JOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932

An easy way
to open
a Savings Account
online instantly

A C C O U N T

Open your account

in just 4 minutes

Access 250+ services

with the iMobile App

Get 100+ exciting

offers

Send ‘OPEN ACCOUNT’ to 86400 86400 on WhatsApp now.

Exciting offers from our partners:

and many
more

Disclaimer as at icicibank.com/instasave. Terms and Conditions of ICICI Bank and third parties apply. ICICI Bank is not responsible for third party products, goods, services
and offers. Nothing contained herein shall constitute or be deemed to constitute an advice, invitation or solicitation to purchase any products/services of third party.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2020, AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES
THE EDITORIAL PAGE
SUDARSHAN TV:
HATE AND STATE
BY PRATAP BHANU MEHTA
PAGE 8
GST SHORTFALL
Gujarat
borrows
Rs 16,700 cr
in 6 months
AVINASH NAIR
AHMEDABAD, SEPTEMBER 18
WITH ZERO compensation re-
ceived from the Goods and
Services Tax (GST) since March
when the lockdown was an-
nounced, the Gujarat govern-
ment has borrowed Rs 16,700
crore in the first six months of
the current fiscal year of 2020-
’21. The monthly revenues of the
statearestilldownby25percent
and have forced the state gov-
ernment to resort to Open
Market Borrowings.
“We follow a borrowing cal-
endar and every month, we are
experiencing a revenue shortfall
of 20-25percent.Moreover,since
April, we have not received any
GSTcompensationandwillhave
to continue borrowing,” a senior
official from the finance depart-
mentof theGujaratgovernment
told The Indian Express.
The pending GST compensa-
tion that is yet to be received
from the Centre is Rs 7,000 crore
at the end of July 2020. This will
risetoRs10,500crorebytheend
of September.
“Thisyear,wehaveborrowed
Rs 16,700 crore so far. Out of this,
Rs 5,500 crore is for the repay-
ment of old debts. This is 25 per-
cent higher than the borrowings
for the same period last year. We
are able to borrow more as the
fiscaldeficitnormshavebeenre-
laxed by the Centre,” he added.
This includes the Rs 1,500
crore that the government plans
to borrow next week. The Open
Market Borrowings are condu-
ctedbytheReserveBankof India
(RBI) on its electronic platform,
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
As MPs test positive, VIOLATION OF GIFT DEED
Covid concerns may cut Gujarat former CM’s
short Monsoon Session kin file suit against
LIZ MATHEW & MANOJ C G
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 18
WITH MORE than 30 MPs, in-
cluding Union Ministers Nitin
Gadkari and Prahlad Patel, test-
ing positive over the last week,
there is a palpable sense of con-
cern and apprehension in
Parliament over the spread of
Covid. The situation has
prompted stricter protocol and
raised the possibility of the on-
going Monsoon Session being
wound up next week.
The case of BJP's Vinay
Sahasrabuddhe, who had tested
negative last Friday, has further
rattled parliamentarians. A day
after he was the party's lead
speaker for the Covid debate in
the Upper House,
Sahasrabuddhe said Thursday
that he has tested positive after
developing a headache and mild
fever the previous night.
While wishing him a speedy
recovery, Trinamool Congress
To fight Covid loneliness & stress, Rajasthan to
allow families to meet patients, get home food
PAGE 1
ANCHOR
HAMZA KHAN
JAIPUR, SEPTEMBER 18
CONCERNED over the mental
well-beingandlonelinessofcoro-
navirus patients, Rajasthan
Health Minister Raghu Sharma
on Friday announced the state
government’s decision to allow
family members to meet them
wearing Personal Protective
Equipment (PPE) kit and taking
other protections, as well as to
providethemhome-cookedfood.
IPL BEGINS TODAY
A panoramic view of the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, the venue for the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League that
begins on Saturday with defending champions Mumbai Indians taking on Chennai Super Kings. The 53-day T20 tournament
will see 60 matches played at three venues across the United Arab Emirates — Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah. Twitter/ Jay Shah
A SILENT DESERT
STORM
3 killed in J&K encounter were
labourers, will take action: Army
NAVEED IQBAL
& ARUN SHARMA
SRINAGAR, JAMMU,
SEPTEMBER 18
ADMITTING THAT the three
youths who were killed in an en-
counteratShopianonJuly18were
missinglabourersfromRajouri,as
claimed by their families last
month, the Army Friday said its
probe had “prima facie” found
that its troops exceeded powers
granted by the Armed Forces
SpecialPowersAct(AFSPA)—and
directeddisciplinaryproceedings
against those “answerable”.
The Army had ordered a
Court of Inquiry into the en-
counter last month after the
three families came forward to
say the youths were cousins —
one of them was reportedly 16
years old — who had gone to
Kashmir for work and not been
IN PARLIAMENT
UPROAR IN LS AS MoS
THAKUR QUESTIONS
NEHRU-GANDHI
FAMILY CHARITIES
RS LISTS FARM BILLS
FOR WEEKEND
PAGES 10, 11
MP Derek O’Brien asked all
Memberswhohadcomeincon-
tact with Sahasrabuddhe or
were seated near him to isolate
themselves. He also noted that
Sahasrabuddhe had delivered a
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
As of now, patients can only
keep in touch with family mem-
bers over video calls, with no
contactallowed.Severalpatients
who died spent their last hours
without their loved ones around
them.
An order issued by Health
Department Principal Secretary
AkhilArorasaidthedecisionwas
taken “looking at the loneliness
of corona-infected patients and
the stress caused because of it”.
As per the order, the family
members of patients infected
with Covid-19 and undergoing
treatment at hospitals can be al-
lowed to meet them wearing
PPE kits, masks, gloves and
DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA
SPORTS, PAGE 16
CAN THE CSK DAD ARMY
WIN THE TITLE?
First step to
gain trust
QUICK DISCIPLINARY
action by the Army
against those answer-
able for the killing of the
three youths is the first
step that will help the
government in gaining
people’s trust. The fami-
lies of the youths had
claimed they were inno-
cent. Completion of
DNA verification and a
transparent police
probe will be the next
logical steps.
Delhi organisation
PARIMAL DABHI
GANDHINAGAR, SEPTEMBER 18
BALVANT BHAVAN, a single-
storeyed property of the second
chief minister of Gujarat, late
Balvantrai Mehta, in Bhavnagar,
which was donated to a Delhi-
based voluntary organisation by
Mehta’s family, has become the
subject of a civil suit filed in a
Bhavnagar city court.
Alleging breach of a condi-
tionalGiftDeedunderwhichthe
property was donated, close
family members of Mehta have
filed the suit against the organi-
sation, Servants of the People
Society(SOPS).Thesuithasbeen
filedbyMehta‘sdaughter-in-law
Rakshaben Mehta (82), and his
closerelatives,BhaskarbhaiVyas
(80) and Nilaben Oza (73).
In the civil suit, filed before
thecourtof PrincipalSeniorCivil
Relatives speak to Covid patients via video call. Express file
maintaining social distancing,
during visiting hours decided by
the hospital. They can also get
JOURNALISM OF COURAGE
SINCE 1932
MAN OF ALL SEASONS:
DWAYNE BRAVO
in touch since July 17 night.
On Friday, the Army
spokesperson in Srinagar, Col
Rajesh Kalia, said in a statement
that the evidence collected by
the inquiry has prima-facie indi-
cated that “the three unidenti-
fied terrorists killed in Op
Amshipora were Imtiyaz
Ahmed,AbrarAhmedandMohd
Ibrar, who hailed from Rajouri”.
Speaking to The Indian
Express, Mohammad Yusuf, the
fatherof AbrarAhmed(25),said:
“Iwantthebodiesof allthethree
children who were close rela-
tives. All the three children were
innocent and they have been
killed in cold blood. I want those
responsible to be hanged.”
Yusuf alsoexpressedconcern
overthedelayintheDNAreport.
“Our samples were collected on
August 13. The administration
should intervene to get the
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Balvant
Bhavan in
Bhavnagar,
property of
Balvantrai
Mehta (right).
Judge of Bhavnagar last month,
SOPS and 10 of its office bearers
or members have been listed as
defendants including its presi-
dent Deepak Malviya.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
the patients home-cooked food
as per the prescribed protocol.
Sharma said that apart from
`5.00, WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
PASSAGE OF FARM BILLS
PM targets Oppn, tells
farmers: new laws will
free you, don’t be misled
‘Lies being spread
by those who
ruled for decades,
support looters of
farmer income’
SANTOSH SINGH
PATNA, SEPTEMBER 18
HAILINGTHEpassageoftwofarm
Bills in Lok Sabha Thursday as a Harsimrat Kaur Badal at her residence in Delhi on Friday, a
“historicdayforthecountryinthe day after she resigned from the Cabinet. Prem Nath Pandey
field of agricultural reforms,”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
toreintotheOppositionFridayfor
“spreadinglies”and“misleading”
farmers on the legislation. We kept raising issue, PM
tweet not enough: Badals;
Speaking via video link at a
Keshubhai ceremonytoinauguratenewrail
lines and electrification projects
Patel tests in Bihar and dedicate the Kosi
SAD to decide on alliance
positive for
Rail Mahasetu to the nation,
Modi said: “Some people who
ruled this country for decades
are attempting to mislead farm- NAVJEEVAN GOPAL
BUSINESS AS USUAL
Covid-19
ers on this issue.” CHANDIGARH, SEPTEMBER 18
His remarks came a day after BY UNNY
Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur A DAY after resigning as Union
Badal of the SAD – her party is Minister of Food Processing
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE one of the oldest allies of the BJP Industriesinprotestagainstthree
GANDHINAGAR, SEPTEMBER 18 –resignedfromthegovernment
in protest against The Farmers’
farm Bills that have triggered
protestsacrossPunjab,Harsimrat
FORMER CHIEF Minister of Produce Trade and Commerce Kaur Badal on Friday said Prime
Gujarat, Keshubhai Patel, 92, (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill MinisterNarendraModi’sassur-
tested positive 2020, and The Farmers ance on the legislation was too
for Covid-19 on (Empowerment and Protection) little and too late, and that the
Friday.According Agreement on Price Assurance Akali Dal had repeatedly raised
to family mem- and Farm Services Bill, the matter in the Cabinet.
bers, the former CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
CM’s Rapid
Antigen Test re-
Keshubhai turned positive.
Patel Patel’s son Why MSP scare: Wheat farmers availing
Bharat told The
Indian Express,
“HisRATreturnedpositive.After
it double in 5 years, paddy up 70 per cent
that, we have got his CT Scan ing the same period, according that farmers in Punjab and
done and also given his samples HARIKISHAN SHARMA to the latest official data. Haryana have taken to the
for RTPCR test. There is nothing NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 18 The data was shared with streets,fearingthattheproposed
worrisomeintheCTScanandthe Rajya Sabha Friday by Raosaheb farm laws will ring in the end of
resultof RTPCRisexpectedbyto- THE NUMBER of wheat farmers Patil Danve, Minister of State for the MSP regime. On Friday,
morrow morning,” said Bharat. who availed the minimum sup- Consumer Affairs, Food and Prime Minister Narendra Modi
“At present, he does not have port price (MSP) has doubled in Public Distribution, who gave a allayed fears, saying his govern-
any symptoms. But since he has the last five years, while the written reply to an unstarred ment is committed to provide a
undergonebypasssurgeryinthe number of such paddy farmers question. fair price to farmers through
past and has prostate cancer, it is hasincreasedby70percentdur- It assumes significance given CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
a cause of concern. He has been
kept in home isolation with
nursing and medical staff,”
Bharat added.
Bharat also said that two of
Keshubhai’spersonalstaff mem-
bers hade tested positive and he
may have got the infection from
them. Keshubhai lives in Sector
19 of Gandhinagar.
WORLD
AMID AFGHAN PEACE
BID, ATTACKS SURGE
IN NORTHWEST
PAKISTAN
TAIWAN SCRAMBLES
JETS AS 18 CHINESE
PLANES BUZZ ISLAND
PAGE 14
ensuringthementalwell-beingof
patients, the decision was
prompted by requests by people
that they be allowed to provide
home-madefoodtotheirrelatives
in hospitals. “There are people
who just eat home-made food.
Weconsulteddoctorsandexperts
and took this decision,” he said.
However, hospitals urged
caution. While saying they “re-
ally appreciate” the move,
Dr Shrikant Swami, Director,
Medical Operations at Fortis
Escorts Hospital, Jaipur, said,
“Donning and doffing PPE kits is
a technical process which has to
be completed and supervised
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Ahmedabad
 2 THE SECOND PAGE
FROM PAGE ONE
Gujarat former
CM’s kin file suit
Balvantrai Mehta had died
during the Indo-Pak war on
September 19, 1965, when the
aircrafthewastravellinginalong
withhiswifeandafewotherswas
shot down by Pakistan Air Force.
Followinghisdeath,hisson–late
Prabhakar Mehta – had donated
thepropertytoSOPS“forthewel-
fare of the people of Saurashtra”
throughaRegisteredGiftDeedon
December 17, 1969. SOPS was
founded by freedom fighter Lala
Lajpat Rai and Balvantrai Mehta
had also worked as its president
once.
As per the civil suit, “The said
giftdeedisnotoutrightgiftdeed,
but the same is a conditional Gift
Deed. There are two conditions
stipulated in the said gift deed -
(1) The gifted property is to be
used for the welfare and uplift-
mentofthepeopleofSaurashtra,
and (2) the name “Balvant
Bhavan”shouldalwaysbekeptas
it is.”
According to Mehta’s family,
“TheBalvantBhavanistobeused
forthesocialactivitiesandunder
no circumstances it can be al-
lowedtobeusedforanyresiden-
tial purpose or any of the pur-
poses contrary to the conditions
laid down in the said gift deed.”
However, by the end of 2017,
they reportedly came to know
that the first floor of Balvant
Bhavanwasbeingutilizedforres-
identialpurposebyoneofthede-
fendants in the civil suit and vice
president of SOPS, Kirti Pandya,
along with his family that in-
cludes his son, daughter-in-law,
grandson and his wife.
Subsequently,Rakshabenand
Bhaskarbhai started registering
their objections with the office
bearersofSOPS.Inresponse,SOPS
appointedacommitteetoinquire
into their grievances.
Later,inreplytovariouscom-
munications of Rakshaben and
Bhaskarbhai, Malviya reportedly
wrote,“Inourview,itwouldbein
the fitness of things if Pandya be
allowedtocontinueinthesaidac-
commodation, along with his
grandson, grandson’s wife and
himself. As he (Pandya) has al-
ready sent his son and daughter-
in-lawawayfromtheexistingac-
commodation.”
Thepetitionerstookobjection
to this reply and said, “…under
theguiseofprovidingtheresiden-
tial accommodation to its mem-
berstheveryobjectofthegiftcan-
not be frustrated.”
Nilaben and a several other
Bhavnagarresidentsalsowrotea
letterinthisregardtotheofficesof
PrimeMinister,GujaratGovernor
and Gujarat Chief Minister seek-
ing their intervention.
Eventually, the petitioners
filedthecivilsuitlastmonth.Their
advocate,SanjayTrivedi,saidthat
thesuithasbeenfiledandservice
of the same to the defendants is
in process.
Meanwhile,KirtiPandyadied
recently and his grandson is re-
portedly staying on the first floor
of Balvant Bhavan.
Rakshaben Mehta, who lives
in Mumbai, told The Indian
Express, “When the conditional
gift deed is clearly providing that
thepropertyhastobeutilisedfor
welfareofthepeople,itsresiden-
tialusageisclearbreachofthegift
deed.”
“Wewantamicableresolution
of the issue, but when it did not
happen despite our repeated at-
tempts,wehadtofilethecivilsuit.
Pandyahasdied,buthisgrandson
islivingatBalvantBhavan.IfSOPS
authorities get the property va-
cated and start its use as envis-
aged in the gift deed, we will
withdraw our civil suit.”
Nilaben, who is also the for-
mer Vice-Chancellor of
Bhavnagar University, said, “We
have been witnessing for years
that no significant social work is
being done from there and the
propertyhasremainedthereonly
for the welfare of a family.”
DOWNLOADAPP
■ VISUAL STORIES
■ DAILY BRIEFING
■ PODCASTS
■ CUSTOMIZABLE
NEWS EXPERIENCE
Indian Express
★★★★★ ■4.6
SCANTHISQRCODETO
DOWNLOADTHEAPP
Denyingtheallegations,pres-
ident of SOPS Deepak Malviya
said that there is no violation of
the Gift Deed at Balvant Bhavan.
“KirtiPandyausedtodowork
(atBalvantBhavan)withfullhon-
esty as per his capabilities. We
(SOPS) had given him the prop-
erty to live and do work there.
Now,hehasdiedanaturaldeath.
He was 79 and so we did not ask
him to vacate the property be-
causeifsomethinghadhappened
to him then people would have
blamed us. Our executive com-
mittee will take decision on get-
tingthepropertyvacatedfromhis
(Pandya’s) grandson,” said
Malviyaaddingthattheywillgive
theirreplyinthecourttothecivil
suit.
Gujarat borrows
E-Kuber, where government se-
curities are sold and purchased
with an objective to adjust rupee
liquidityconditionsinthemarket.
Banks, insurance companies,
provident funds among others
participateintheseopenauctions
conducted by the RBI.
The government is taking
bothshorttermsloansoffour-five
years and long-term loans of 14
years. “We are taking loans for
twopurposes.Oneistorepayear-
lierloansandsecondlytofinance
capital activities,” the official
added. The loans are being taken
at an interest rate of 6.25 percent
to 6.75 percent. which is higher
thantheinterestratesduringpre-
Covid times.
“Manyof thestateshavesim-
ilar conditions and are also into
Open Market Borrowings,” he
said. Every two months, Gujarat
was expected to receive Rs 3,500
croreasGSTcompensationforthe
lossinrevenuesduetotheimple-
mentation of GST.
“TheCentralgovernmenthas
cleared GST compensation dues
only till March 2020. The pay-
mentwasmadeinApril2020.We
expectthefirstinstallmentofGST
compensationtobegiventousby
September-end,”theofficialsaid.
In order to make up for the
GST shortfall, the Government of
IndiainAugustgavetwoborrow-
ingoptionstothestate.Underthe
first option, states can borrow
through a special window facili-
tatedthroughtheRBIandthebor-
rowing will not be treated as the
state'sdebt.Underthesecondop-
tion, the entire shortfall can be
borrowed by the state from the
market, but the interest shall be
paid by the states. Gujarat has
opted for the first option.
Therevenueshortfallhascon-
tinuedtoremaingrave,despitein-
dustriesstartingtofunctionafter
theCovid-19lockdownwaslifted
inphases.Revenuesfromvarious
taxesincludingstampduty,motor
vehicle tax and electricity duty
amongotherscontinuetobeim-
pacted post the Covid lockdown.
“The revenues from stamp
duty are as low as 20-25 percent,
while those from motor vehicle
tax is just 35 per cent from the
monthly revenue averages,” the
official added.
Badals
SpeakingtoTheIndianExpress
over the phone from Delhi,
Harsimrat,theMPfromBathinda,
said,"Iamgratefulhe(thePM)has
donethat(giventheassurance).I
would have been even more
grateful if he had said this a
month-and-a-half ago when I
wassayingfarmerswantedanas-
surance."
Akali Dal president Sukhbir
SinghBadalsaidthepartywould
meet to take a decision on its al-
liancewiththeBJP.TheAkalisare
one of the BJP’s oldest allies.
Sukhbir asked why the PM,
whotweetedsayingtheBillswere
not anti-farmer and would not
end the Minimum Support Price
(MSP) regime, could not ensure
thatthesamewasspecifiedinthe
legislation. The MP from
Ferozepur, who walked out of
Parliament on Thursday with
wife Harsimrat after she an-
nouncedhersurpriseresignation,
EXCLUSIVE
WEB
VIDEO OF THE DAY
PM slams Oppn, tells farmers: new
laws have freed you, don’t be misled
2020–theproposedlawshave
had farmers taking to the
streets in Punjab and Haryana.
In Lok Sabha, the Congress led
the Opposition attack on the
Bills, calling these “draconian”.
Modi said the passage of
the Bills has liberated “our an-
nadatta” farmers from the re-
strictionsthattiedthemdown.
“These reforms will ensure
they get better alternatives,
moreopportunitiestoselltheir
produce… the middleman be-
tween the farmer and the con-
sumer would always pocket a
large share of the farmer’s in-
come. To save the farmer from
the middleman, it was neces-
sary to bring these laws. These
will now be a shield (raksha
kavach) for the farmer.”
He said changes to provi-
Wheat farmers availing MSP doubled
in 5 years, paddy farmers up 70%
MSP and government pro-
curement will continue as
before.
As of September 9, the
number of wheat farmers
who availed the MSP during
the rabi marketing season
(RMS) 2020-21 reached
43.33 lakh – up 22 per cent
from 35.57 lakh last year.
The data shows that the
number of wheat farmers
whoavailedtheMSPdoubled
(112 per cent increase) since
RMS 2016-17 when that
number was 20.46 lakh.
During the current rabi
marketing season, the top five
states with the highest num-
ber of wheat farmers who
availed the MSP are Madhya
Pradesh (15.93 lakh), Punjab
(10.49 lakh), Haryana (7.80
lakh),UttarPradesh(6.63lakh)
and Rajasthan (2.19 lakh).
The data also shows that
the number of paddy farmers
who availed the MSP has
reached 1.24 crore during the
Sukhbirsaid,"Atweetisnotanas-
surance. They should have put
this in the Bill… The Prime
Ministershouldhavegivenanas-
suranceonthefloorof theHouse
itself… What is the problem in
it?" he told The Indian Express
over the phone.
Sukhbir said they had a copy
ofthe“dissentingnote”Harsimrat
had given in writing on the ordi-
nances,whichhavenowbeenin-
troduced as Bills.
"FromDay1intheCabinet,we
objected to the ordinances. I said
so on the floor of the House. But
they told us these are just ordi-
nancesandthatwhentheyintro-
duce the Bills, they would take
careofalltheapprehensions.That
iswhyforthelasttwomonthswe
have been trying (to address
farmers' concerns). Farmers said
the MSP regime would end. We
went to them (the government).
They wrote a letter saying the
MSP regime would not end. So,
wekeptongoingupanddownto
ensure that all farmer issues are
resolvedbecauseweareapartof
the NDA and it is our duty. We
made it very clear that if you do
notchange(theBills)accordingto
thewishesoffarmers,wewillnot
support the legislation."
Sukhbir denied the claims
that the Akali Dal had supported
theordinancesinitially.“Isaidwe
wouldsacrificeanythingforfarm-
ers…iftheMSPends.Wekepton
saying the same thing… The
farmers said put it in the Act and
a letter will not suffice… If we
were supporting the ordinances,
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
37 YEARS ON, PANDEMIC MAY MAKE CHENNAI’S FAMOUS ‘STATUE MAN’ MOVE ON
Havingstartedhiscareerasearlyas1985attheVGPUniversalKingdomThemeParkinChennai,Azizisnow
thinkingofquittingandlookingforothersourcesofincome.
ECONOMIST MAHESH
VYAS ON LABOUR
Vyas speaks on
problems plaguing
India’s labour force
sions of the agricultural mar-
ket in the APMC Act were also
promised in the election man-
ifestoes of Opposition parties
who are now opposing the re-
forms. He said “lies” are being
spread that the benefit of MSP
will not be given to farmers by
the government.
The government, Modi
said, is committed to provide a
fair price to farmers through
MSPandgovernmentprocure-
ment will continue as before.
With the new provisions com-
ing into force, he said, farmers
can harvest their crop and sell
at a desired price in any mar-
ket of the country.
Referring to Nitish Kumar,
the Prime Minister said the
Bihar Chief Minister, realising
the harm done by the APMC
FARMERSWHOAVAILEDMSP
PADDY (KMS)
2015-16 73,08,416
2016-17 76,85,168
2017-18 72,30,859
2018-19 96,93,641
2019-20 1,24,16,252
2020-21 Not available
KMS: Kharif Marketing Season RMS: Rabi Marketing Season
kharif marketingseason(KMS)
2019-20. This is 28 per cent
higher than 96.93 lakh paddy
farmers who availed the ben-
efit of MSP during KMS 2018-
19. Data is not available for
KMS 2020-21 because kharif
paddy procurement has not
yet begun.
The number of paddy
farmers who availed the MSP
has increased by 70 per cent
since KMS 2015-16 when the
number was 73.08 lakh.
we would not have opposed
them in the Cabinet meeting.”
Asserting that the Akali Dal
represents the farmers, Sukhbir
said, “We know exactly what the
farmers need, what protection
and security they need. And we
told them (the Centre) exactly
that.”Harsimratwarnedthatthe
entry of private players in the
farminginfrastructurefacilitated
bytheBillscouldcauseitto"col-
lapse".
OntheAkaliDal-BJPalliance,
Sukhbir said, "I feel sad. We al-
ways fought against the
Congress. We are among the
founder members of the NDA
and…ourviewswerenottaken.
That is what hurts."
He also continued his attack
on the Congress, having accused
the party in Parliament on
Thursday of talking of similar
legislation in its manifesto in the
Punjab 2017 Assembly elec-
tions. "The true face of the
Congress is now revealed as
they did not oppose the Bills.
They did not vote against the
Bills but walked out. This means
they are supporting the Bills.
Secondly the same Bill was part
of Amarinder Singh and Rahul
Gandhi's manifesto, Captain
Amarinder Singh implemented
it in 2017. How come he is op-
posing these Bills now?"
J&K encounter
report at the earliest, otherwise
we will be compelled to launch a
protest,” he said.
The Army said that while the
FASHION
Act, removed this law in the
state.Helistedinitiativesof the
government to improve lives
of farmers -- Pradhan Mantri
Kisan Kalyan Yojana, Pradhan
Mantri Krishi Sinchayee
Yojana, neem-coated urea, the
building of a network of cold
storage, investment in food
processing industries and the
creation of the agricultural in-
frastructure fund.
ThePrimeMinistersaidthe
government is constantly
working to increase the in-
comeof farmers.Anationwide
campaign is also being carried
out to protect livestock from
diseases. He urged farmers to
be vigilant of those “mislead-
ing” them.
“Those who talk of protect-
ing farmers actually want to
WHEAT (RMS)
Not available
20,46,766
31,87,229
39,77,029
35,57,080
43,35,382
The five states with the
highest number of paddy
farmers who availed the MSP
during KMS 2019-20 are
Telangana (19.88 lakh),
Haryana (18.91 lakh),
Chhattisgarh (18.38 lakh),
Odisha (11.61 lakh) and Punjab
(11.25 lakh).
In KMS 2015-16, Punjab
was at the top of the list of 25
states and Union Territories
where the highest number of
paddy farmers had availed the
DNA report is awaited and “in-
volvement” of the three killed
“with terrorism or related activi-
ties”isunderinvestigationbythe
police, the inquiry has “brought
out certain prima facie evidence
indicating that during the opera-
tion,powersvestedundertheAF-
SPA1990wereexceededandthe
Do’s and Don’ts of Chief of Army
Staff as approved by the Hon’ble
SupremeCourthavebeencontra-
vened”.TheArmystatementsaid:
“Consequently, the competent
disciplinary authority has di-
rectedtoinitiatedisciplinarypro-
ceedings under the Army Act
against those found prima-facie
answerable.”
The encounter was ques-
tionedbyvariouspoliticalparties
in the Valley after which J&K L-G
ManojSinhaassuredthevictims'
families earlier this month that
justice would be delivered.
On Friday, NC leader and for-
mer CM Omar Abdullah posted
on Twitter: “The families of the
threemurderedmenhadcontin-
ued to proclaim their innocence.
Disciplinaryactioninitiatedbythe
army would suggest the army
agrees with the families. The
processmustremaintransparent
& the guilty must face the full
weight of the law.”
On July 18, the Army had
claimed that three militants had
been killed in an operation at
AmshiporainShopian.However,
on the same day, J&K police dis-
tanced itself from the encounter
and said in a statement that the
“input” for the operation had
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2020
FDCI’S SUNIL SETHI ON
HAUTE COUTURE
Setjhi also speaks on
the first-ever digital
India Couture Week
keep farmers under bondage.
They are supporting the mid-
dlemen and supporting the
lootersof thefarmer’sincome,”
he said.
The Prime Minister dedi-
catedtheKosiRailMahasetuto
the nation and inaugurated
new rail lines and electrifica-
tionprojectsinBihar–thestate
will be going to polls soon.
"Projects worth about Rs
3,000 crore such as Kosi
MahasetuandKiulBridge,elec-
trification projects, promotion
of Make-in-India in Railways
and a dozen job-creating proj-
ects are being launched today.
These projects will not only
strengthenBihar’srailnetwork
butalsostrengthenrailconnec-
tivity to West Bengal and east-
ern India,” he said.
MSP. The state has now been
pushed to the fifth place. In
fact, the state has seen a de-
cline in the number of farm-
ers availing benefits of MSP.
But the number of wheat
farmers availing MSP has
gone up in the state.
In Haryana, the numbers
of both wheat and paddy
farmers availing MSP have
gone up. The government
fixes MSP of 22 “mandated
agricultural crops” and the
Fair and Remunerative Price
(FRP) for sugarcane based on
the recommendations of the
Commission for Agricultural
Costs & Prices (CACP).
However, the data about
farmers who availed the MSP
is available for the two crops as
these are two principal prod-
ucts procured by the Food
Corporation of India for the
central pool. There are a few
coarse grains like jowar and
pulses too which are procured
by government agencies.
come from the Army.
“On a specific input by 62RR
aboutthepresenceofterroristsin
villageAmshiporaareaofDistrict
Shopian, an operation was
launchedbytheminthesaidarea.
Duringthesearch,terroristsfired
uponArmypersonnelandtheen-
counter started. Later on, police
and CRPF also joined. During the
encounter,threeunidentifiedter-
roristswerekilled,”thepolicehad
said in a statement.
A month later, after coming
across pictures of the “slain ter-
rorists” on social media, the fam-
ilies of the three said they were
labourersandthatMohdIbrar,the
youngest, was 16 years old.
OnAugust18,aweekafterset-
ting up its probe into the killings,
the Army said in a statement:
“DNA samples have been col-
lected from Rajouri under the
aegisofJKPandsentformatching
withtheterroristskilledon18Jul
2020.”
MPs positive
speech from the Treasury
benches and would have spent
time in the House lobby and
Central Hall.
According to sources, if the
Billsforwhich11ordinanceswere
promulgated during the lock-
downarepassedbybothHouses,
the session may be cut short.
Sources said the government is
expectedtopushtheseBillsinthe
firsthalfofnextweek.Atleasttwo
Opposition MPs said the session
could be concluded by the mid-
dle of next week.
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
Why this IPL season
will take a toll on
players
NEWEPISODEEVERYDAY
This week on the Express Sports podcast,
we talk about the new IPL season taking
place in the UAE, and how playing in a bio-
bubble will affect the players.
BoththeHouseswillconduct
sessions over this weekend, in-
cluding an unprecedented
Sunday session -- Lok Sabha had
sat on Saturday for the Union
Budget on February 1.
Whilethegovernmenthasal-
readypassedsupplementaryde-
mands for grants, the Lok Sabha
is yet to take up the Epidemic
Diseases (Amendment) 2020. At
the moment, the session, which
began on September 14, is offi-
cially scheduled to conclude on
October 1.
The new Covid protocols,
whichwillcoverMPs,mediaper-
sons and Parliamentary staff, in-
clude mandatory daily antigen
tests and wearing of masks, and
entryrestrictionsforformerMPs,
MLCs,MLAsandfamilymembers
or personal guests.
Besides,officialsaccompany-
ing Ministers during discussions
on Bills have to show a negative
report from RT-PCR tests taken
within 72 hours before their visit
to the complex. Fresh directions
are being issued on a daily basis
through the Lok Sabha and Rajya
Sabha bulletins, too.
Currently, members of both
Houses have been undergoing
RT-PCR tests at regular intervals
onavoluntarybasis,saidasenior
Parliament official -- there is no
limitonthesetests.Mediapersons
inpressgalleriesalsohavetheop-
tion to undergo the RT-PCR test,
which is valid for 72 hours.
Inside the Houses, Rajya
Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah
NaiduandLokSabhaSpeakerOm
Birla have repeatedly instructed
members to follow physical dis-
tancingandotherCovidprotocols
strictly.
OnFriday,Naiduaskedmem-
berstorefrainfromwhisperingin
each other’s ears. Birla reminded
MPs to wear masks properly and
maintain distance to avoid “put-
ting others' lives in danger”.
“No member is expected to
cometotheTableofficewhenthe
Houseisinsession.Membersare
requestednottogotoothermem-
bers'seatsandbendandwhisper
in their ears. Please avoid. If you
havesomethingtocommunicate,
send slips. It is not allowed in ex-
amination halls but is allowed
here,” Naidu said.
Rajasthan
meticulously by professionals.
Otherwise it may result in trans-
missionofthevirustohealthyin-
dividuals.”
Dr R C Gupta, Medical
Superintendent at Mahatma
Gandhi Hospital, a private dedi-
catedCovidhospitalinJaipur,said,
“It is impractical. We have 300
Covidpatientsandif youbringin
600attendantswiththem,itwill
crowd the hospital. Also, we will
have discarded PPE kits lying all
around. And a common man
doesn’tknowhowtowearortake
off a PPE kit correctly. But of
course, if the government has is-
suedsuchdirections,thenwewill
have to follow them.”
Dr Indu Thanvi, the nodal
Covid officer at state govern-
ment-run Mathuradas Mathur
Hospital (also a dedicated coro-
navirus facility) in Jodhpur, said
the decision is good as far as al-
leviating “the psychological
trauma of the patient in being
alone”isconcerned.“If they(the
relatives) are properly dressed
and they follow the rules and
regulations properly, then it is
not a problem. The problem is,
most of the time, the general
public, despite being aware that
they have to maintain distance
andusemasks, don’t followthis.
So these guidelines have to be
strictly followed, otherwise it
can be very disastrous.”
MahendraJain,30,whose76-
year-old grandfather is admitted
atagovernmenthospitalinKota,
said the authorities had relaxed
rules in their case. “He has been
admitted for the past eight-10
days. We had requested the doc-
tors to let us meet him and bring
him home-made food, and they
allowed it,” he said.
One day after
Dubai bars it
for flying
Covid patient,
AI Express
back today
PRANAVMUKUL
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 18
ADAYafterDubai’sCivilAviation
Authority informed Air India
Express that it would not be al-
lowed to fly to its airports for 15
days from Friday after the airline
carried a Covid-positive passen-
ger from Jaipur on September 4,
thelow-costcarriersaiditwould
resume its service to the emirate
from Saturday.
Without revealing details of
whatledtothequickreversal,Air
IndiaExpresstweeted:“Attention
Passengersfrom/toDubai!AllAir
India Express flights from/to
Dubaiwilloperateasperoriginal
schedule w.e.f tomorrow,
September 19,2020.”
According to the Dubai au-
thority, the passenger was al-
lowedtoboardtheflighttoDubai
despitecarryingaCovid-positive
certificate issued by a diagnostic
laboratory in Jaipur.
This is the second such in-
stance involving AI Express and
the aviation authority -- a juris-
diction with which an air bubble
is already established -- after the
airline had carried another pas-
senger with a Covid-positive re-
sult from Delhi to Dubai on
August 28.
Thegroundhandlingagencies
deployed by Air India Express at
DelhiandJaipurareitssistercon-
cerns,AirIndia-SATSandAirIndia
AirTransportServicesLtd,respec-
tively.
Earlier, the airline had
tweeted that it had “submitted a
letter to Dubai Civil Aviation
Authority expressing its profuse
apologies and detailing various
actions taken in association with
the concerned ground handling
agentstoguardagainstsuchlapse
in the future”.
Last month, flights to Hong
Kong operated by Air India were
suspendedforafortnightfor“car-
rying too many passengers in-
fected with Covid19”.
Indiacurrentlyhasairbubble
arrangementswith13countries-
-theUS,theUK,France,Germany,
the UAE, Maldives, Afghanistan,
Bahrain, Canada, Iraq, Nigeria,
Japan and Qatar.
The Centre is negotiating for
similararrangementswithother
countries, such as Australia, Italy,
New Zealand, Israel, Kenya, the
Philippines, Russia, Singapore,
South Korea and Thailand.
According to the UAE's rules,
passengers must have a test re-
port certifying them Covid-neg-
ative to be accepted for any in-
bound flight.
In the suspension notice sent
Thursday, the Dubai authority
said:“Boardingapassengerwith
COVID 19 Positive test result for
thesecondtimeiscontrarytoand
is in violation of the laid down
procedures and/or protocols re-
lating to air travel to and from
AirportsintheEmirateof Dubai...
Therefore, all operation of Air
IndiaExpresstoDubaiAirportsis
temporarilysuspended...effective
from 00:01 hrs/LT on Friday 18th
September 2020 until 23:59
hrs/LT of 2nd October 2020”.
AirIndiaExpresssaidthesus-
pension has come on account of
“erroneous acceptance” of pas-
sengers on the two flights by the
airline’s ground handling agents.
“Theairlinehasreiteratedthe
instructionstothehandlingagen-
cies in India to strictly adhere to
the regulation/SOP in relation to
acceptance of passengers on the
Airline’s flights. As an abundant
precaution, the Airline has ad-
vised the handling agents to im-
plement a three-tier checking
mechanism to avoid any such
lapse in the future,” it said.
Ahmedabad

3 GUJARAT
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2020
Curious children gather around healthworkers who arrived at a Covid-19 testing facility in Ahmedabad on Friday. Nirmal Harindran
VMC faces Covid data manipulation flak,
mayor says it ‘could be to avoid panic’
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
VADODARA, SEPTEMBER 18
THE VADODARA Municipal
Corporation(VMC),whichhas,so
far,managedtokeepitsofficialfig-
ures of Covid-19 cases just above
10,000 since the outbreak of the
pandemicwith171deathsrecor-
dedofficiallyuntilFriday, isfacing
data manipulation allegations.
Elected representatives of
both the Congress and BJP cited
theincreasingnumberof crema-
tions and burials across the city
as an indicator of the “con-
cealed” data. Congress corpora-
tor Chirag Zaveri and BJP MLA
JitendraSukhadiaonFridayaired
their concern, seeking immedi-
ate correction in the figures re-
lated to the pandemic, even as
Mayor Dr Jigeesha Seth said that
the numbers of reported cases
could be “restricted” to avoid
“spreadof panic” amongpeople.
On Friday, when Vadodara's
Covid-19 tally reached 10,292,
Zaveri dashed a letter to the
VMC,allegingthatthehealthde-
partment is concealing the data
related to positive cases and
deaths in Vadodara.
Zaveri, a corporator from
Manjalpur in South zone, told
The Indian Express, “In my ward,
there are two Urban Primary
Health Centres (UPHC), which I
visit almost everyday. Out of
around 800 Rapid Antigen Tests
that they conduct daily, the total
positivecasesarearound250per
day.So,howcantheoverallfigures
of Vadodara city be restricted to
125 cases per day? It is clear that
the data is being manipulated...”
After Zaveri's letter, BJP MLA
from Sayajigunj Assembly
Constituency Jitendra Sukhadia
backed the charge against the
civic body. Speaking to local
channels in Vadodara, Sukhadia
said,“Itisclearthatthereisgross
mismanagement of reported
numbers. It is also the case with
deaths... They are showing one
or two deaths everyday... then
why are the crematoriums wit-
nessing heavy queues?”
While health officials main-
tainthatthedataiscollectedfrom
all government hospitals and
testing labs before being put to-
gether as part of the daily official
medicalbulletin,Vadodaramayor
Dr Jigeesha Seth, in a statement
toTVchannels,admittedthatthe
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
STATE TALLY CROSSES 1.2 LAKH GSHSEB Class 10
Highest one-day spike supplementary
examination
records pass
of 1,410 Covid cases percentage of 8.17
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, SEPTEMBER 18
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE CASE TRACKER
AHMEDABAD, SEPTEMBER 18 PLACES CONFIRMED DEATHS NEW CASES SUPPLEMENTARY EXAM results
Ahmedabad 33,581 1,775 173 of GujaratSecondaryandHigher
GUJARAT REPORTED the high- Secondary Education Board
Amreli 1,777 23 26
est one-day spike of over 1,400 (GSHSEB) Class 10 declared on
Covid-19 cases, taking the Anand 977 16 11 Friday recorded a pass percent-
state’s cumulative tally to Aravalli 519 24 7 age of 8.17. This is a reduction of
1,20,689, even as the cumula- Banaskantha 1,586 21 48 over 1 per cent from 2019. It was
tive discharged numbers also Bharuch 1,991 14 26 9.4 per cent the previous year
crossed a lakh. whereboys'passpercentagewas
Bhavnagar 3,649 56 36
Among the 16 who suc- 8.99 and girls' 10.06 per cent.
cumbed to the infection on Botad 655 5 10 Out of 1,08,869 candidates
Friday was a 49-year-old Chhota Udepur 458 3 6 who appeared for the supple-
constable with the Surat city Dahod 1,502 6 16 mentary exams conducted from
police. Dang 93 2 September 25 to 28, only 8,890
The deceased constable, cleared. Among these, out of
identified as Minhaz Patel, was Devbhoomi 455 5 8 44,068 girls who appeared for
posted at Hazira police station Dwarka the exams, 3,683 cleared the
in Surat. Inspector VB Desai of
Hazira police station said,
“Minhaz Patel was undergoing
Gandhinagar
Gir Somnath
Jamnagar
3,127
1,221
4,795
70
16
34
48
13
129
exam, thus recording a pass per-
centage of 8.36 per cent. While
out of 64,801 boys who took
numberswerepossiblyunderre- not counted as Covid-19 deaths. treatment in Apple Hospital supplementary exams, 5,207
ported to keep panic at bay. The crematoriums and burial since September 15 and suc- Junagadh 2,379 30 37 passed, recording pass percent-
Seth said, “It should be the grounds in Vadodara are also cumbed to Covid-19 today. We Kheda 1,159 15 12 age of 8.04 per cent.
standard practice to collect the seeingfinalritesof patientsfrom will send his documents to the Kutch 1,633 31 34 The exams were conducted
positivecasesdatafromthegov- otherdistrictswhocameherefor state home department for Mahisagar 843 10 11 at 6,192 blocks of 623 buildings
ernment-runCovid-19hospitals treatment... It makes up almost compensation, as declared by in 38 centres across the state.
Mehsana 2,094 28 47
andUPHCsaswellasprivatelabs one-third of the patients admit- state government.” A total of 1,32,032 candidates
and hospitals. We will have to ted to Covid-19 hospitals here.” Shantiben Gujarati (65), Morbi 1,375 17 30 registeredforthesupplementary
check if the reported data is only On Friday, Rao visited the wife of former Surat Diamond Narmada 814 9 exams out of which 1,08,869 ap-
from specific hospitals or over- Dhiraj Medical College Hospital Association president Babubhai Navsari 1,077 7 5 peared. These candidates did not
all. It is also possible that the inSumandeepcampusinPipaliya Gujarati, who was undergoing Panchmahal 2,012 20 28 clearoneortwosubjectsandthus
numbers are being reported to explore the option of turning treatment, was discharged on tookretestsinthosesubjectsdur-
Patan 1,473 38 27
with some restrictions to avoid the hospital into a 600-bed ded- Friday, after 78 days of treat- ing the supplementary exams.
panic among the people.” icated Covid-19 facility with 100 ment in Kiran Hospital. Porbandar 398 4 7 OwingtotheCovid-19pandemic,
Zaveri, however, said, “The ICU and 60 ventilator beds. Babubhai Gujarati said, “We Rajkot 8,123 128 144 the mark sheets and pass certifi-
agenda is to show how well Vadodara, which has also are happy over her recovery... Sabarkantha 928 10 16 cates of 8,890 candidates will be
managed the city is during the been facing manpower issues at She has no other health trou- Surat 25,688 710 286 sent to the districts which will be
pandemic. The truth is... there SSGandGotriMedicalCollege,is ble.” thendistributedtotalukaandcor-
Surendranagar 1,499 11 13
arenobedsavailableinhospitals exploring the option of deploy- Gandhinagar and Mehsana poration areas on September 21.
andpeoplearebeingforcedtogo ing resident doctors and nursing continue to report higher num- Tapi 512 4 5 The GSHSEB Class 10 results
into home quarantine to show students from Dhiraj Hospital. ber of cases, while Rajkot Vadodara 10,292 171 135 declaredonJune7recordedade-
that things are in control.” Rao has also instructed all crossed 8,000 cases. Valsad 1,114 8 4 cline of over 6 per cent with an
Denying the allegations, private hospitals empaneled as The Surat Municipal Other states 148 3 overall pass percentage of 60.64
VadodaraOfficeronSpecialDuty Covid-19 hospitals to “not deny Corporation, meanwhile, per cent, the lowest in five years.
Vinod Rao said, “Our reporting service to any patient”. closed four diamond markets, Cumulative Total New Cumulative In the year 2019, it was 66.97 per
of Covid-19 numbers is in line “The focus is to pool re- seven vegetable shops and pro- discharge: cases: cases: deaths: cent. A total of 10,83,280 candi-
with the protocols of the Indian sources available. The hospitals hibited 247 street vendors from dates registered of which
Council for Medical Research shouldattendtothepatientsand operating in order to curb the 1,01,101 1,20,689 1,410 3,314 10,22,458appearedfortheexams
(ICMR). The deaths are also be- after assessing the need, they spread of the infection. conducted from March 5 to 17.
ing reported as per the guide- should be referred to a hospital
lines, according to which those which may have spare vacant
withmultipleco-morbiditiesare beds or ventilators,” Rao said.
Ahmedabad
 4 GUJARAT
RAIN WOES
Vehicles wade through
waterlogged streets in
Vadodara on Friday evening
after heavy rain lashed the
city. Bhupendra Rana
Man holds 4-year-old boy at
knife point, rapes his mother
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, SEPTEMBER 18
A MAN allegedly raped a 30-
year-old woman on multiple oc-
casionsbyholdingherfour-year-
old son at knife point in Gir
Somnath.
The accused has been
booked for allegedly raping the
woman on multiple occasions
from 2019 to 2020, police said.
"I was introduced to the
man by his cousin who lived in
my neighbourhood. On March
18, 2019, he came to my house
Chinese
language study
programme to
start at RSU
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, SEPTEMBER 18
A SPECIALISED Chinese lan-
guage study programme will
be taught at the Raksha Shakti
University (RSU) in collabora-
tion with the Asia University,
Taiwan. The study programme
has been offered at the RSU
during an academic, research
and incubation dialogue be-
tween India and Taiwan organ-
ised at the university in collab-
oration with the Prospect
Foundation, Taiwan.
Speakers and participants of
the dialogue, held on
September 16, exchanged and
agreed on several areas of col-
laboration including informa-
tion technology, security, po-
lice, supply chain and logistics
at various levels and forums.
Taiwan was represented by
AmbassadorChung-KwangTien
and Dr Tan-sun Chen, Chairman
of Prospect Foundation.
From India’s side, Lt Gen SL
Narasimhan, Director-General,
Centre of Contemporary China
Studies, Ministry of External
Affairs, Krishan Varma, Special
Secretary (Retd), Cabinet
Secretariat and Bimal N Patel,
director-general, Raksha Shakti
University made presentations.
Dr Patel stated that
Taiwanese expertise in areas
such as training women police
officers, counter insurgency
and counter terrorism, among
others, can greatly benefit
India’s efforts to strengthen its
security infrastructure.
SMC to set up windmill
at the cost of Rs 35 crore
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE
SURAT,SEPTEMBER18
THE SURAT Municipal
Corporation (SMC) will set up a
windmill inKutchatthecostofRs
35 crore that will generate 4.2
MegaWattpower.Atpresent,the
SMC hasfivesuchplantsinKutch,
Porbandar and Jamnagar that
generates32.4MegaWattenergy.
The civic body’s administra-
tive wing has sent a proposal to
the standing committee, which
was approved Friday. SMC addi-
tionalcityengineer,KHKhatwani,
said, “We will soon issue tenders
of4.2-MWwindmillatthecostof
when I was alone with my chil-
dren. He threatened to kill my
four-year-old boy with a knife
and then raped me in front of
my children. He also took my
pictures and videos. He then
started blackmailing me with
the pictures and raped me a
multiple times till July 2020.
Out of fear and shame, I did not
reveal the ordeal to my husband
or parents. On September 17, he
again threatened me saying
that he will get rid of my hus-
band (sic)," said the victim in
her complaint.
Taking cognizance, police
20 kg marijuana, 5 kg charas
seized at 3 locations; 5 held
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE
AHMEDABAD,SEPTEMBER18
THEGUJARATPoliceonThursday
seized20kilogramsof marijuana
and 5 kilograms of charas
(hashish) and arrested five per-
sons from three locations. In the
first case, the special operations
group (SOG) of Kutch Bhuj police
arrestedthreepersonsandseized
5 kg of Charas. The accused were
nabbed after a trap was laid by
SOG by impersonating as a du-
mmycustomerinterestedinpur-
chasing the narcotics, police said.
The accused have been iden-
tified as Naresh Shah (43), a resi-
dent of Gandhidham in Kutch,
Prafful Baria (31), a resident of
Panchmahal and Ramji Koli (40),
aresidentofAbdasainKutch,who
werebookedundertheNarcotics
Drugs and Psychotropic
Substances (NDPS) Act.
SEEK URGENT HEARING
Slum dwellers move HC to stop demolition
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, SEPTEMBER 18
AROUND 250 slum dwellers in
Gandhinagar have moved the
GujaratHighCourtseekinganur-
gent hearing for Saturday after
they were informed of a demoli-
tiondrivetobeconductedfrom8
am on Saturday.
According to the residents of
the slums, situated behind the
Mahatma Mandir complex in
Gandhinagar,they’vebeenresid-
ing there for over 30 years now
Rs 35 crore. The contractor will
havetobearthemaintenanceand
operation costs for 10 years.”
TheSMCgeneratesrenewable
sourcesofenergythroughbiogas,
wind mill project, and solar proj-
ect,makingupto32percentofits
total consumption. SMC was the
firstcivicbodytostartwindpower
plant project in the country with
its 3-MW plant in 2010.
Through its five plants, SMC
has so far generated 44.16 crore
unitsofpowerandsavedrevenue
to the tune of Rs. 260.68 crore.
In June 2020, SMC expanded
itslimitwith27morevillagesand
2municipalities,alongwithanad-
ditional population of 1.76 lakh.
have booked the accused un-
der Indian penal code sections
376 for rape, 452 for house
trespass, 504 for intentional in-
sult and 506 for criminal intim-
idation and 120B for criminal
conspiracy. Police have also
booked a relative of the ac-
cused as according to victim,
she was also part of the con-
spiracy to rape her.
"We have taken the state-
ment of the woman. The ac-
cused is on the run. We will
question her relative who is also
an accused in the case," said an
officeratGadhadapolicestation.
“TheSOGhadreceivedainfor-
mation that one Naresh Shah
from Gandhidham purchased a
charaspacketfromafishermanin
Mundra who found it ashore. A
trap was set and a policeman
called Shah and showed interest
in purchasing the narcotics con-
signment.OnThursday,atrapwas
set and the police team reached
Pragpar intersection road in Bhuj
and held the three persons with
the drugs,” said an official of
MundraPoliceStation. Inthesec-
ond instance, the Ahmedabad
CrimeBrancharrestedapersonin
Ahmedabad and seized 5 kilo-
grams of marijuana.
According to Detection of
Crime Branch, the arrested ac-
cused has been identified as
Salman Pathan (26), a resident of
Danilimda in Ahmedabad.
“A patrolling team of DCB re-
ceivedatip-offabouttwoaccused
carrying a consignment of Ganja
and while previous court orders
combinedwithgovernmentpoli-
cieshadresultedintheallocation
of three plots for relocating the
slumdwellers,itwasnotfollowed
through in practice, said a lawyer
associated with the matter.
The dwellers were served
with a demolition notice on July
17 this year, following which the
residentsmovedcourt.Thecourt
ofJusticeAYKogjehadissuedno-
tice to this effect on August 14 to
therespondentparties,including
theGandhinagardistrictcollector
andstategovernmentauthorities,
JEE advanced candidates
can stay overnight at IITGN
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, SEPTEMBER 18
THE INDIAN Institute of
Technology Gandhinagar
(IITGN) will provide overnight
accommodation to candidates
appearing for Joint Entrance
Examination (JEE) Advanced
scheduled on September 27, and
accompanying parent on its
campus.
The candidates who have
their test centres in the
Gandhinagar-Ahmedabad re-
gion and would like to stay
overnight on IITGN campus,
can register themselves on the
VIDEO OF COVID PATIENT BEING ‘BEATEN UP’
Maratha community demands
action against hospital staff
Paatil died due to kidney infection, scepticemia, say govt officials
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE
RAJKOT, SEPTEMBER 18
A DAY after a purported video of
paramedics pinning down a Co-
vid-19 patient at the state
government-run Pandit
Deendayal Upadhyay (PDU)
Hospital went viral, the Maratha
community of Rajkot submitted
a memorandum to the office of
the Rajkot district collector on
Fridaydemandingthatthehospi-
talstaffbebookedformurder.The
videohadsurfacedfourdaysafter
the death of the patient,
Prabhashankar Paatil (38).
However, government officers
saidthathehaddiedduetoscep-
ticemia and kidney infection.
Meanwhile, police detained
two ambulance drivers after the
hospital authorities gave an ap-
plication saying that someone
had shared the video “without
verifying facts and with mala
fide intent”.
TheMarathacommunity,un-
derthebannerofSamastMarathi
Samaj-Rajkot(AllMarathiSamaj,
Rajkot), submitted a memoran-
dum to Parimal Pandya, the resi-
dentadditionalcollectorofRajkot
and demanded that staff of PDU
Hospitalbebookedformurderof
Paatil. "After watching the video,
it appears that doctors and hos-
pitalstaff hadthreatenedthepa-
tient and had mentally harassed
him and tortured him. The staff
on duty had sat on his chest and
beat him up brutally and it is
clearly visible in the video that
due unbearable torture, the pa-
tient(PrabhakarPaatil)isbegging
forhisdeath.Thisprovesthatdoc-
tors,nursesandmedicalstaffand
security killed Prabhakar Paatil,"
the community stated in its
memorandum.
from Danilimda to Narol on a
scooter and a check post was set.
One accused identified as Zakir
alias Kalu Shaikh managed to
evadethepolicecheckpostwhile
his accomplice Salman Pathan
washeldwiththenarcotics.Both
the accused have been booked
under NDPS Act. Shaikh is ab-
sconding,” said an officer at DCB
Police Station.
In the third case, one person
was arrested 15.4 kilograms of
marijuanawasseizedfromPetlad
townofAnand. “TheSOGteamof
Anand Police received input that
Akhtar Shaikh alias Akku Mirza
was selling marijuana at the
Zanda chowk of Petlad town. A
raid was held and Mirza was ar-
rested with 15 kilograms of mar-
ijuana. We are questioning him
about the source of narcotics and
a case of NDPS has been lodged
against him,” said an officer at
Petlad police station.
and the court had also reserved
the petitioners’ liberty to move
court“incasetheactivityforevic-
tionordemolitionof theresiden-
tial dwellings of the petitioners is
apprehended.”
The petitioners are relying on
the policy change in 2010-2011
along with a government resolu-
tion of 2013 that permits slum
dwellers residing at the said
dwelling prior to 2010 and have
any two documents to establish
the same, are eligible to be relo-
catedtoaflat,providedforbythe
state government.
website https://www.iitgn.ac.
in/jeeaes.
Talking about this special
arrangement, Prof Sudhir Jain,
Director,IITGNsaid,“Atthistime,
itwillbechallengingforthecan-
didates and their guardians
whose JEE Advanced exam cen-
tres are far away from their resi-
dence to find a safe accommo-
dation. IITGN aspires to be a
sensitive institution. Providing
on-campus overnight accom-
modation is our modest effort to
giverelief tosomeof theanxious
candidates and their parents.”
The exam divided in two pa-
pers of three hours each will
start at 9 am and 2.30 pm.
Maratha community
leaders submit a
memorandum to resident
additional collector Parimal
Pandya, in Rajkot on Friday.
Chirag Chotaliya ; (Right)
Prabhashankar Paatil (38)
who died at the PDU
Hospital on September 12.
The community rejected the
claim of the hospital that he had
amentalillnessandstatedthatit
wasanattempttoshieldthosere-
sponsible for, what they called,
"Paatil's murder." They de-
manded that an independent
probe committee be set up and
police should also take cogni-
sance of the matter. They also
marked a copy of the memoran-
dum to Chief Justice of Gujarat
High Court and Rajkot city police
commissioner.
However,RahulGupta,theof-
ficer on special duty from the
state government for Rajkot dis-
trict, underlined that Paatil had
died due to disease and not due
toanybeatingasisbeingalleged.
"Hewasadmittedtocivilhos-
An elephant and mahout navigate through the morning traffic at Ambedkar bridge in Ahmedabad. Nirmal Harindran
GUJARAT EDUCATION DEPT
Teachers, students, schools to be
tracked to analyse online classes
RITUSHARMA
AHMEDABAD, SEPTEMBER 18
THE GUJARAT Education
Department plans to track and
put 62 lakh students, 2.5 lakh
teachers, and nearly 40,300
schools under surveillance using
the government’s online educa-
tion,inordertoanalysethereach
andeffectivenessofonlineclasses
and home learning tools
launched in June.
WiththeGujaratgovernment
ruling out re-opening of schools
evenafterSeptember21,thestate
education department has more
reasons to rely on more online
teaching for government and
grant-in-aid schools, and feels it
will benefit the secondary stu-
dents the most.
Also, any deviation from the
scheduleordirectionsbyanystu-
dent or teacher will be alerted to
the supervising authority. For in-
stance, if a teacher is not follow-
ing the system set up for sharing
the e-content a day in advance
with his/her students or not fol-
lowing the time table set up for
onlineclasses,itwillbealertedto
the department.
To track and monitor the
system, a dedicated dashboard
will be launched soon. It will
provide live feed and database
of more than 62 lakh students,
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2020
pitalontheeveningofSeptember
8 and the next morning, he was
delirious—he had taken off his
clothes, had started taking off
tubes attached to his body and
started running. He even tried to
throttle a patient in the bed next
tohis.Therefore,doctorsfromthe
psychiatry department were
calledandhewasassessedtohave
a delirium. While we don't know
if hehadanypasthistoryof men-
talillness,thehospitalstaffhadto
restrain him when his behaviour
threatenedtocauseharmtohim-
self and to other patients. While
post-mortem of Covid patients is
not conducted, the death audit
committeecomprisingthreesen-
iordoctorsconcludedthathedied
duetosepticemiaandandsevere
2.5 lakh teachers, 3,250 cluster
resource co-ordinators (CRCs),
263 block resource co-ordina-
tors (BRCs) and 40,300 schools
across 33 districts.
Forsurveillanceandmonitor-
ing, the Command and Control
Centre(CCC)oftheeducationde-
partment that is already being
used for this purpose will be
utilised. Teachers, CRCs or BRCs
willbecontactedbytheCCC’scall
centreemployeestoseekreasons
foranydeviationfromthedepart-
ment’s guidelines.
“Once we have launched a
system such as online teaching,
there comes a requirement of
analysisof itsusability,effective-
ness, evaluation and other pa-
rameters. Until that is done, the
initiative serves no purpose. For
this,Microsoftwasropedinsince
they were already offering the
platform for online classes in
government schools. It was a
challengeforthemtoosincethey
had never created such a moni-
toringtoollikeadashboard.Butit
is finally created and will go live
this week,” said State Project
Director of Samagra Shiksha P
Bharathi.
Before launch of the online
teaching on June 15, initially
MicrosoftteamIDswerecreated
for 15 lakh students and 83,000
teachers in March who were
shortlisted for the pilot project
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
kidneyinfection,"Gupta toldThe
Indian Express on Friday.
"Staff hadtocontrolhimafter
he became unruly. Security
guardswerecalledtothewardaf-
terhestartedrunningaround.But
no one beat him up with stick or
anything. They just restrained
him," said Gupta.
Incidentally, Paatil, a migrant
from Jalgoan district of
Maharashtra who was working
inaforgingfirminRajkot,hadun-
dergone a procedure on his kid-
neyataprivatehospitalinthecity
on September 6 after pus accu-
mulation was noticed in his kid-
ney. The private hospital had re-
ferred him to the government
hospitalonSeptember8afterhis
tests for Covid-19 returned posi-
tive. Subsequently, he died on
September 12.
A purported video of the hos-
pital staff trying to control Paatil
hadgoneviralonsocialmediaon
Thursday. In the video, a hospital
paramedic is seen pinning Paatil
tothefloorbyplacinghiskneeon
the patient's chest and slapping
the patient when he tries to rise.
Asecurityguardisalsoseenpush-
ing him to the ground by placing
his foot on Paatil's shoulder.
Meanwhile, Pradyuman
Nagar police inspector L L
Chavda said that they had de-
tained Nitin Gohel and Raju
Goswami, two ambulance driv-
ers, after Dr Hetal Kyada, one of
the nodal officers of Covid-19
hospital on the campus of PDU
Hospital gave an application.
"Intheapplication,DrKayada
has complained that the video
was shared on social media with
a mala fide intent and without
verifying facts. Acting on the ap-
plication, we have detained the
two ambulance drivers and are
questioning him," Chavda said.
of online education in govern-
ment schools.
This has been now expanded
to all 62 lakh students from
classesItoXIIand2.5lakhteach-
ers of all government and grant-
in-aid schools across the state.
With the help of this dashboard,
informationincludingwhethera
student has logged in or not, the
logintime,durationandwhether
theyareusingthecontentshared
by the education department or
those prepared by the teachers
can be monitored.
Similarly, teachers are being
monitored on all these parame-
tersincludinghowlongateacher
hastaught,tohowmanystudents
and how many lectures were
given.
Also, a comparative analysis
of districts’ performances that
can be scaled down to teachers
orstudentscanbedonewiththis
dashboard monitoring system.
“Based on the comparative
analysisandperformance,teach-
ers and districts will be coun-
selledbythedepartmentseeking
reasons for poor performance.
Thus, it will also help in improv-
ingthesystem,”saidaneducation
department official.
Theprincipalsofschools,who
are the designated heads of the
MSteam,willalsobeabletotrack
theactivitiesandperformanceof
the teachers and students.
SCHOOL FEE ISSUE
HC to state
govt: Take
a balanced
decision
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, SEPTEMBER 18
THE GUJARAT High Court on
Friday left it on the state govern-
ment to decide on the school fee
relaxation and reduction issue
amid the Covid-19 pandemic
and reminded that a “balanced
decision” should be taken keep-
ing in mind the intent of all
stakeholders involved.
The state government in
August through the secretary of
the education department had
moved court after it failed to
come to a conclusive decision
following negotiations with
private schools and their repre-
sentatives. Following the stale-
mate, the government had
turned to the court for a direc-
tion to this effect.
According to advocate
Vishal Dave, who has been rep-
resenting the interests of
school children’s parents, it
was submitted before the court
that the state had sufficient
powers under the provisions of
the Disaster Management Act
and the Epidemic Diseases Act
to take a decisionintheconcern-
ing matter.
The federation of self-fi-
nancedschoolshadalsosubmit-
ted before the court that the
state’s plea was not maintain-
able given the circumstances.
Thecourtwasinagreementwith
both parties and thus disposed
of the government’s plea minus
any interference.
Reacting to the high court’s
order, Education minister
BhupendrasinhChudasamasaid
that after studying the order, a
meeting with Chief Minister
Vijay Rupani and Deputy Chief
Minister Nitin Patel will be held.
A decision will be taken after de-
liberations of this meeting.
Burger Singh
to open
40 outlets
in Gujarat
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, SEPTEMBER 18
BURGER SINGH, a brand of fu-
sion burgers has signed a mas-
ter franchise deal in Gujarat
through which it will open 40
outlets in the next two years in
various cities, including
Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara
and Rajkot.
The 40 outlets will be a mix
of dine-in and take away outlets
along with some strategically
placed cloud kitchens. The
Master Franchise will seek suit-
able sub-franchisees in the area,
stated an official release
on Friday.
“Gujarat has a vibrant food
market with huge potential...
There is also a massive market
for vegetarian food. We are al-
ready known for our wide range
of vegetarian burgers, and we
are introducing some very spe-
cial vegetarian products, espe-
cially for Gujarat,” said Rahul
Seth, Chief of Staff, Burger Singh.
The company already has 50
outlets in the country.
The Master Franchise in
Gujarat has been taken up by
Balaji FoodWorks, a company
established by entrepreneurs
Harshil Soni and Yash Patel.
Ahmedabad
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2020 5
''IMPORTANT''
Whilst care is taken prior to
acceptance of advertising
copy, it is not possible to verify
its contents. The Indian
Express (P) Limited cannot be
held responsible for such
contents, nor for any loss or
damage incurred as a result of
transactions with companies,
associations or individuals
advertising in its newspapers
or Publications. We therefore
recommend that readers
make necessary inquiries
before sending any monies or
entering into any agreements
with advertisers or otherwise
acting on an advertisement in
any manner whatsoever.

GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI : DELHI JAL BOARD

OFFICE OF EXECUTIVE ENGINEER (PR) SR-I
SECTOR VI : POCKET D7 : ROHINI : DELHI 110085
NIT NO- 03 (2020-21) EE (PR) SR-I
PRESS NOTE
S. Name of Work Amount Earnest Date of Last date/ time for tender download
No. put to Money release Date & Time of Pre-Bid Meeting
Tender (Rs)/ of tender in
(Rs) e- Last date and time for online submission of tender
procurement Date and time for opening of Part-A
solution
Date/ Time for opening of Part-B (Financial Bid)
1 Construction of 6 MLD STP and other associated/ allied DBO Rs. 17/09/2020 27.10.20 up to 3.00 pm
appurtenant work on Design, Build and operate basis at 7620 BASIS 28,37,800/- 06.10.20 at 12:00 Noon
EWS housing complex developed by DUSIB at Savda
Ghewra along with ten years Operation & Maintenance. 27.10.2020 upto 3:00 PM
(DEPOSIT WORK) (OPEN TECHNOLOGY BASIS) 27.10.2020 at 3:15 PM
After completion of scrutiny of the received technical bids
Further details in this regard can be seen at https://govtprocurement.delhi.gov.in tender ID No- 2020_DJB_194630_1 dated 17/09/2020
ISSUED BY PRO (WATER) Sd/- HORENDER KUMAR
Advt. No. J.S.V. 158 (2020-21) EXECUTIVE ENGINEER (PR) SR-I

Ahmedabad
 6 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2020

GUJARAT WATER SUPPLY &

CIN-U40102GJ2003SGC042906
Circle Office: Sabarmati-380005 www.ugvcl.com www.guj-epd.gov.in
TENDER NOTICE
Tender Notice No. UGVCL/SBT CO-16, e-Tender-17, 18, 19 &
SBT Dn.·16 & GNR(U)-16 & KAL-9 & BPL-11 & GNR (R) e-
Tender-9/2020-21 for Renovation of Toilet, Providing tea,
snacks, lunch for participants at training center, U/G cable net-
work with terminations & Hiring of vehicle/Eicher & Supply of
HT/ PVC TAP Rolls and Lugs & P&F chain link fencing work,
Replacement of x'mer & Erection of HT,LT/T/C work,
Fabrication work, Asset mapping of HT/LT line is put up on
company's website. Interested Suppliers/contractors are
requeted to see the company's website. www.ugvcl.com
Shri R. D. Zala
Supdt. Engr. Circle Office, Sabarmati
UGVCL's 24x7 Toll free Customer Care No. 1800233155335 OR 19121
“pay your energy bills through e-payment facility”
SEWERAGE BOARD,
GANDHINAGAR
(Govt. of Gujarat Undertaking)
E-TENDER NOTICE NO.E-10 of 2020-21
Invites online tenders ID No. 425832 through for the
work of (01) water supply scheme of taluka Vansda
Dist. Navsari under Public Health Works Division,
G.W.S.S.B. Navsari. An Estimate Cost. 490.96 lacs for
further details of tender Notes scope of work & specifi-
cation etc. please visit web site https:/,www.gwssb.org,
www.gwssb.nprocure.com, www.statetender.com,
www.tradereader.com Upload Start date. 18/09/2020
and Last date for submission of online tender is
08/10/2020 up to 18.00 hrs. Ph. 02637-257066, Mo.
99784 06669.
For any complaints in Water supply Pls. Contact
Gujarat Water Supply & Sewerage Board
Help Line No.1916.
INF/Nav/249/2020
GUJARAT WATER SUPPLY &
SEWERAGE BOARD
TENDER NOTICE NO. 04/2020-21
Executive Engineer, Public Health Dharoi Project Division, Jal Bhavan,
Mehsana, Opp. R.T.O., Palavasana, Mehsana ( Phone No. (02762) 225186)
invites tender for below mentioned work by E-Tendering system.
Name of Work:- Providing, supplying, lowering, laying, Jointing and
Testing different type of Pipes including concrete work under Dharoi
RWSS at different Locations in the alignment of Mehsana to Palanpur Six
Lane Highway between Mehsana City Byepass circle to Siddhpur City,
Dist. Mehsana/Patan.
Estimated Cost: Rs. 2,27,26,142=18
Tender ID No. 426426
Eligibility of Contractor :- Any Bidder should have a registration in "B"
and above class. Last Date of Online Submission of Tender :- 08/10/2020
up to 18.00 Hrs. GWSSB reserves the right to reject any OR all tenders
without assigning any reason. All amendments will be uploaded online
only.Detailed information of Tender can be viewed on website @
www.gwssb.org http://gwssb.nprocure.com OR www. Statetender.com.
For Village Level Drinking Water Problem Please Contact on
GWSSB Help line No.1916. No. DDI/MEH/208/20-21

Government. of Odisha
OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDING ENGINEER
CUTTACK (R&B) CIRCLE, CUTTACK Classifieds
B-266 (‘e’- PROCUREMENT NOTICE)
Tel/Fax-0671-2301751/2302751, PERSONAL
E-mail.ID-sectrb_2006@yahoo.co.in
Bid Identification No. S.E.Ctc.(R&B)10/2020-21
1. The Superintending Engineer, Cuttack (R&B) Circle, Cuttack on
behalf of Governor of Odisha invites on Percentage rate basis bid in
double Cover System in ONLINE MODE from eligible contractors for
Building work as mentioned below.
2. No. of work :- 4 Nos.
3. Nature of work :- Building works.
4. Class of Contractor :- ‘ B’, ‘A’ & Special Class
5. Tender Paper Cost :- Rs. 10,000/-(online)
6. Available of bid documents
in the web site :- From 30.09.2020 to 16.00
Hours of 16.10.2020
7. Date of opening of bid :- Dt. 17-10-2020 at 11:00 Hours.
8. The Bidders have to participate in ONLINE biding only. Further details
can be seen from the website https://www.tendersorissa.gov.in Any
addendum/corrigendum/cancellation of tender can also be seen in the
said web site.
Sd/- T.P. Mishra
Superintendig Engineer,
Cuttack(R&B)Circle
OIPR-34012/11/0011/2021
''IMPORTANT''
Whilst care is taken prior to
acceptance of advertising
copy, it is not possible to verify
its contents. The Indian
Express (P) Limited cannot be
held responsible for such
contents, nor for any loss or
damage incurred as a result of
transactions with companies,
associations or individuals
advertising in its newspapers
or Publications. We therefore
recommend that readers
make necessary inquiries
before sending any monies or
entering into any agreements
with advertisers or otherwise
acting on an advertisement in
any manner whatsoever.

indianexpress.com

Iarriveataconclusion
notanassumption.
Informyouropinionwith
detailedanalysis.

Ahmedabad
 CALENDAR 7
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2020

OVER THE HEDGE by Michael Fry & T Lewis

CROSSWORD 4228
ACROSS
1 One whose build-up depends
on dripping (10)
6 A pair of braces (4)
10 Avoided losing Dave’s change
(5)
11 Appearing on the scene and
defying gravity? (7,2)
12 A few upset the owner too
(3,2,3)
13 A pretender who gets things
done (5)
15 The cul-de-sac all mortals
reach (4,3)
17 Woman perhaps who displays
her bloomers (7)
19 Putting a price on fish shows
intuitive appreciation (7)
21 He can well perform some art
composition (7)
22 Still out to get rhythms (5)
24 It turns its back in a curve in an
aesthetic way (8)
27 They are normally unsuitable
for inhabitants (9)
28 State from which I had
returned on the second of the
month (5)
29 The fools pass out (4)
30 Men’s assets as a basis for
taxation (10)
SolutionsCrossword4227:Across:1Lookout,5Tidal,8Cathedral,9Set,10Echo,
12Foursome,14Bitter,15Strops,17Twenties,18Trip,21Eat,22Wolverine,24
Noted,25Doubles.Down:1Lucre,2Out,3Oyez,4Turnon,5Tolerate,6Dishonour,7
Letters,11Hottentot,13Bestowed,14Bittern,16Sealed,19Pleas,20Peru,23Ill.
JUMBLED WORDS
DAY TODAY
ARIES (Mar 21 - Apr 20)
The most significant
planetary
movements of the
past few weeks have
raised intense financial dreams.
It’s not always been easy but, for
many of you, pleasant, romantic
encounters have provided a
welcome break from life’s
relentless routine. Whatever has
happened, you must now
subject your domestic plans to a
thorough scrutiny.
TAURUS (Apr 21 - May 21)
Your solar chart’s
best feature is that it
CALVIN & HOBBES by Bill Watterson allows you the
freedom to withdraw
from stressful and angst-ridden
DOWN emotional confrontations and
1 Band giving some of Sousa’s enjoy pleasurable and
hits (4) passionate encounters. Much
2 Profit that shouldn’t be taken depends on your willingness to
unfairly (9) alter your perspective. Pay a little
3 I listen to hi-fi in Latin extra care to finances lest you
(5) throw good money after bad.
4 Tired me out, just (7)
5 Reprimand and allocate new GEMINI (May 22 - June 21)
duties (4,3) Althoughtherewill
7 Should be anything or stillbetimesduring
nothing (5) theweeksaheadwhen
8 Compensation required for youfeelinspired,you
port area in ruins (10) musttakenoteofplanetary
9 Garment one may have to movementsthatarenowadvising
fasten in front (8) youtobealittlemoredown-to-
14 Not even peers are so friendly earthandbusiness-like.You’ll
(10) soonbechangingyourmind,
16 Oriental girl on a charge that
is thrown out
MARVIN by Tom Armstrong shufflingyourlong-rangeplans,
sodon’tallowpartnerstopinyou
intoacorner.
(8)
18 Nice trait but somehow
CANCER (June 22 - July 23)
puzzling (9)
Many of the
20 It’s difficult to see if they’re
emotional and
broken (7)
psychological
21 Miss tea when involved in
undercurrents
painting (7)
revealed in your current planets
23 Drunk started smoking (3,2)
are very subtle and therefore
25 Falls into errors (5)
tend to be overwhelmed by daily
26 Left New York perhaps
cares and concerns. However, I
(4)
suspect that you are now aware
that you have commenced, or
are about to commence, a major
new partnership cycle.
LEO (July 24 - Aug 23)
Although your
energy is at a peak
right now, you must
DifficultyLevel3s
not imagine that this
situation will continue for ever.
Instructions You must therefore use the
SOLUTION SUDOKU 4235
BY PETER VIDAL
LIBRA (Sep 24 - Oct 23)
Youmustnowmove
withoutdelaytopatch
upthefinancial
situation,especiallyto
compensateforanybitternessor
hurtwhichhasresultedfrom
recentconflictsordifferencesof
opinion.You’realreadyfeeling
morebuoyantemotionally.Next
weekwilljustifyyouroptimismin
anumberof pleasantways.
SCORPIO(Oct24-Nov23)
Today’swaterymood
givesyouallthe
emotionalsupport
youneed.Leisureand
travelstarsarenowboth
beneficialandhighlystimulating,
althoughmanyof youmayhave
toadaptyourplansatthelast
minute,inordertocopewith
changingcircumstances.Canyou
makesomesparetime?
SAGITTARIUS(Nov24-Dec22)
It’stimetocatchup
withyourself.Areasof
yourlifewhich
deserveextra
attentionincludehigher
educationandlegalquestions,
bothof whichmayimplicate
relativesorpartners.Anycrisisin
holidayortravelplansshouldnow
beresolved,whilerelationswith
childrenshouldbeyourpriority.
CAPRICORN(Dec23-Jan20)
When thephrase
’lateralthinking’was
coined,itwasexactly
forthetypeof
conditionsthatyoumeettoday.
Breakoutof oldproblemswith
radical,innovatoryand
revolutionaryinsights.Anddon’t
beafraidtolookbacktothepast.It
maybethattheoldwayswere
thebestwaysandittakesa
Capricorntoacknowledgethat
onesimpletruth.
AQUARIUS(Jan21-Feb19)
Thechancesarethat
youwillnowhaveto
laydownthelawand
letlovedones,
partnersandcolleagues
understandthattheyhave
definitelyoversteppedthemark.
Yetyouinyourturnmaybiteoff
morethanyoucanchew.One

Givenbelowarefourjumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemto TosolveaSudokupuzzle, current surge of emotional wordof advice:don’tneglectyour

therespectivesquaresbelow.Selectthelettersintheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtoget everydigitfrom1to9 power to reform and revitalise health.Thereisnotimelikethe
SUDOKU 4236

theanswerforthegivenquip. mustappearineachofthe your relationships in a spirit of presentforkeepingfit.

Somebooks___usfreeandsomebooks___usfree.-RalphWaldoEmerson(5,..,4) compromise, not confrontation.
nineverticalcolumns,in PISCES(Feb20-Mar20)
eachoftheninehorizontal VIRGO (Aug 24 - Sep 23) Thereareboundtobe
GSEEE LIMPED rowsandineachofthe You are famous for timesoverthecoming
nineboxes. the ruthlessness of dayswhenyour
your logical brain, imaginationtakesoff.
yet, you must temper But,then,itdoesn’trequiremuch
ORTAA CEHTKV DifficultyLevel
the cutting edge of your ideas toarouseyourvisionaryideals,
with an understanding of the doesit?Yourchallengenowisto
1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy; frailty of the human condition. In putyourdreamsintoaction,and
3s=Medium;4s=Hard; other words, don’t expect people todothatyoumayhavetoturn
- Ralph Waldo Emerson 5s=VeryHard;6s= to deliver what is beyond their theclockback, taking a trip down
Answer: Some books leave us free and some books make us free. Genius capacity or ability. memory lane.
SOLUTION: GEESE, AORTA, DIMPLE, KVETCH

Gujarat Water Supply &

Sewerage Board
Tender Notice No. 10 of 2020-2021
Executive Engineer, Public Health Works Division, First Floor,
Jalbhavan, Behind Adarsh School, Palanpur-385001, Dist: -
Banaskantha, Gujarat State invites tenders for 1 civil works
amounting to total Rs. 4078-00 lacs of Danta taluka of
Banaskantha District. Sr. No. 1 work are invited by on line e- Administration of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, U.T.
tendering vide tender ID No 423588 Sr. No. 1 works Last date Directorate of Medical & Health Services
of submission of online tender Dt. 9/10/2020 up to 18.00 hrs. No. DMHS/EST/Advt./Doctors/2019/2471/69 Silvassa, Date: 16/09/2020 National Institute of
And Prebid meeting at 11.00 hrs. on dated 01.10.20 at Chief ADVERTISEMENT Fashion Technology
Directorate of Medical & Health Services, Dadra and Nagar Haveli is conducting walk-in-interview on
Engineer, Zone-2, Jalabhavan, Ahmedabad. Detailed details NIFT Campus, Chheb Kangra, Himachal Pradesh-176001
26/09/2020 at 10.30 am for various posts to be filled on short term contract basis under Shri Vinoba
regarding tender are available on notice board of this office & Bhave Civil Hospital and Rogi Kalyan Samiti, Silvassa. Details regarding the posts are available on the Phone No.: 01892-260872-5, Fax No. 01892-263872
web site www.statetenders.com, https://gwssb.nprocure.com. official website: www.dnh.nic.in or www.vbch.dnh.nic.in. The applications should reach the undersigned Tender Notice
AII the corrigendum (if any) will be published online only. before 26/09/2020
Sd/- File NIFT/Kangra/FD/Design Collection (Fashionova)/
GWSSB Toll free Helpline No. 1916 for 2018 19.09.2020
No. IP/DNH/269/2020 (Dr. V. K. Das)
Drinking Water Supply for Rural Area Silvassa, Dt. 18/9/2020 Director (M&HS), 0260-2642940
Save Water Water will Save You NOTICE INVITING EXPRESSION OF INTEREST
FOR VIDEO EDITING OF DIGITAL GRADUATION
No. DDI/PAL/264/2020-2021 c CENTRAL WAREHOUSING CORPORATION SHOW OF FD DEPARTMENT (FASHION SHOW)
(A GOVT. OF INDIA UNDERTAKING)
Where Housing
for Everyone
CORPORATE OFFICE: NEW DELHI Sealed EOI are invited for Video Editing of Digital Graduation
4/1, Siri Ins tu onal Area, August Karn Marg, Hauz Khas, New Delhi-110016 Show on two bid system.
Phone No.-011-49857894, Email:engg.cwhc@cewacor.nic.in Last date for submission of quotation is 28.09.2020 (14.00 hrs) ''IMPORTANT''
NO: CWC/ CO-ENGG./PRESS NOTE/2020-21 Dt. 17.09.2020 and mentioned in the EOI documents, the interested Whilst care is taken prior to
contractor/firms/suppliers may visit NIFT Campus on any work-
PRESS NOTICE INVITING E- TENDER ing day during office hours and contact Administration or NIFT
acceptance of advertising
copy, it is not possible to verify
CWC invites online tenders from the contractors for the following works:- Website https://www.nift.ac.in/kangra/tenders. for EOI details.
its contents. The Indian
Express (P) Limited cannot be
Sr. Es mated Cost Lastsubmission
date of on line held responsible for such
No Name of Work (in Lakhs) &
opening of tender
Sr. Expression of Interest for Date of Publishing Last Date for
contents, nor for any loss or
No. Submission damage incurred as a result of
Up-grada on of internal road along with transactions with companies,
1
drain at CW, Rajkot-I and Rajkot-II (Gujarat). 282.88 13.10.2020 1. Complete video complica- 19.09.2020 28.09.2020 associations or individuals
tion and editing of live dig- (14.00 hrs.) advertising in its newspapers
Detailed Tender No ce along with condi ons of contract and No ce Invi ng E- ital fashion show of the or Publications. We therefore
Graduation students of FD recommend that readers
Tender may be seen and downloaded from the CWC website Department of NIFT make necessary inquiries
www.cewacor.nic.in or e-tender website www.cwceprocure.com or CPP Portal Kangra. before sending any monies or
entering into any agreements
h p://eprocure.gov.in/epublish/app. Further Corrigendum / Addendum to NIFT-820 Joint Director
with advertisers or otherwise
acting on an advertisement in
this Tender, if any, will be published on the above men oned website only. DONATION TO NIFT ARE EXEMPTED UNDER SECTION 80G OF INCOME TAX any manner whatsoever.
Newspaper press adver sement shall not be issued for the same.
CHIEF ENGINEER (I/C)

Ahmedabad
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

8
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2020
WORDLY WISE

THE EDITORIAL PAGE With infectious disease, without vaccines,

there’s no safety in numbers.
— SETH BERKLEY

FOUNDED BY
Between hate and state
§

§
RAMNATH GOENKA
Whichever way the Sudarshan TV case turns out, dark
BECAUSE THE TRUTH INVOLVES US ALL
days lie ahead on our crooked journey on free speech

IN AND OUT Pratap Bhanu Mehta

SAD’s calibrated protest against Modi government’s farm bills IN THE CASE of free speech jurisprudence in power,whilesometimesunjustified,wasalso Cable Broadcasters Act to the ability to sue,
India, history repeats itself — first as tragedy still within bounds that could be contested. that should in principle provide enough re-
mirrors narrow space for manoeuvre for the regional party

T
and then as greater tragedy. The Sudarshan
TV case, at one level, is very simple. In princi-
HE DECISION OF Shiromani Akali Dal, a long-standing ally of the BJP in the ple,Indianlawallowspriorrestraintonbroad-
NDA, to withdraw Harsimrat Kaur Badal from the Union Cabinet over or- casting. This prior restraint should be used
dinances related to agriculture reform may be a bid to reverse the decline sparinglyandmustmeetahighconstitutional
in its support base in Punjab. The recent reforms in agriculture have been bar.Indianlawalsoallowsregulationforhate
perceived by a section of farmers and traders as inimical to their interests. speech, which is different from offensive
speech. Hate speech often targets and de-
Protests have rocked Punjab and Haryana over measures that have the potential to rad-
gradesacommunity.So,asthelawiscurrently
ically overhaul and reset the current relations between farmers, traders, and the govern- constituted,theissueseemstobesimple:Was
ment. That the Akali Dal has withdrawn its minister while remaining within the NDA, Sudarshan TV’s programme, Bindas Bol, as
however,indicatesthecalibrated natureof theparty’s response born of itslimited options clear-cutacaseof hatespeechasonecansee?
— the Akali Dal lost the last two assembly elections in Punjab and failed to ride the Modi Certainly, the material available in the public
wave that powered the NDA sweep in the 2019 general election. domain suggests that the show is vile. The
Courtpassedaninterimrestrainingorderand
The absence of any visible overture on the part of the BJP to persuade the SAD to re-
will presumably settle the matter based on a
consider its decision is also significant. Commanding a simple majority in the Lok Sabha, careful consideration of the content.
the BJP does not feel compelled, apparently, to reach out to resentful or rebellious allies. But whichever way this case turns out, it
In fact, the Modi government has pursued its core agendas, which were deemed con- looks like dark days are ahead for both
tentious in the past and hence kept in abeyance, with purposeful vigour since 2019, and democracy and freedom. In some ways,
its allies have fallen in line. To be sure, the Shiv Sena left the NDA on the matter of shar- cases like this one are a repeat of the tragedy
of 1951. It has been pointed out (most re-
ing power in Maharashtra, but other NDA members have acquiesced to every decision,
cently by Tripurdaman Singh, in Sixteen
eventhosethathavebeencontentiousorappearedtobeunilateral,takenbytheModigov- Stormy Days), that India’s First Amendment,
ernment. This is a far cry from the NDA under Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani (1998- enacted by Nehru, was a betrayal of liberal
2014),whentheBJPwasnotsocomfortablyplacedintermsof numbersandwhenregional values. But the underlying structure of the
partiesincludingtheAIADMK,TeluguDesam,ShivSena,JanataDal(United)andTrinamool problem was similar.
The government feared that if it did not
Congress could, at times, compel the BJP to accede to their demands on important issues.
In the UPA, too, regional parties such as the DMK exerted a conspicuous influence. have the power to regulate speech, all kinds
of communal and insurrectionary venom
Since 2014, the national polity has taken a turn as a result of which the space for re-
could spread through society. The defence of
gional parties at the Centre has shrunk, and centralising tendencies have been embold-
a fragile republic required the state to be
ened. The radical potential of regionalism and sub nationalism seems exhausted and armed with the power to regulate speech.
attempts to revive such agendas invite accusations, often with good reason, of oppor- Thespectreof hate andviolencegotthestate
tunistic grandstanding. In the upcoming Bihar election, too, this is the context that will, to betray its own liberal commitments. And
then began India’s crooked journey on free
in all probability, influence the calculations of parties such as JDU, RJD and the LJP. The
speech. Liberals never acquired the confi-
Akali Dal’s predicament is not unique, it mirrors a political moment where smaller re-
denceinthedemostoletgoof thesecrutches
gional outfits must struggle more for space, and in which the dominant national part- of state regulation in the name of defending
ner finds it easier to have its way. therepublic.TheRightusedsuchprotections
as it had to spread its hate and its dog whis-
tles. And whenever it was questioned, it
TALK IT THROUGH
weaponised free speech arguments to ex-
poseliberalhypocrisy,evenasititself cracked
down on dissent.
This uneasy equilibrium still allowed
Decisiononwhogetsvaccine firstmustbeinformedbywide Indian democracy to survive so long as hate
was within certain bounds. The use of state
deliberationsthatmuststartnow
The issue is fundamentally
political and we should not
pretend that fine legal
distinctions will solve the
issue. The big lesson of the
last two decades is that an
over-reliance on legal
instruments to solve
fundamentally social and
political problems often
backfires. In the case of free
speech, this is even more so.
First, if you look at the larger
politics, the game of the
Right is to trap liberals into
being the censoring party.
They get more mileage and
victimhood, and create more
scepticism about
constitutional first principles
by showing that when it
comes to the crunch no one
believes in free speech.
What kept the republic together was not the
consistencyof principleorthemajestyof law,
but elements of a political culture and frag-
mentationof power.Whatmakesthecrisisof
free speech deeper now is that both ends of
the problem have intensified. The spread of
hatespeechanditspoliticalconsequencesare
now infinitely greater. The precedents of a
Rwanda-like situation, where communica-
tion mediums are used to target communi-
ties, are not outside the realm of possibility.It
is for this reason we still have so many re-
straints on speech.
On the other hand, the spectre of author-
itarianism is also greater. And here is the
dilemma. Almost every regulation of speech,
no matter how well intentioned, augments
thepowerof thestate.Butnow,inthecurrent
context, where to all intents and purposes
most independent institutions have crum-
bled, empowering the state is a frightening
prospect as well. In the Fifties, we arguably
feared hate more than the state. But now,
when we fear both hate and the state, to
whom do we turn?
Thisbackgroundneedstobekeptinmind
whenthinkingaboutcaseslikeSudarshanTV.
The issue is fundamentally political and we
shouldnotpretendthatfinelegaldistinctions
will solve the issue. The big lesson of the last
two decades is that an over-reliance on legal
instrumentstosolvefundamentallysocialand
politicalproblemsoftenbackfires.Inthecase
offreespeech,thisisevenmoreso.First,ifyou
lookatthelargerpolitics,thegameoftheRight
is to trap liberals into being the censoring
party.Theygetmoremileageandvictimhood,
and create more scepticism about constitu-
tionalfirstprinciplesbyshowingthatwhenit
comes to the crunch no one believes in free
speech. We can make all the fine distinctions
we want between different forms of speech.
But the blunt truth is that the more the state
regulates, the more it politicises the regula-
tion of speech, and ultimately legitimate dis-
sent will be the victim.
Second,thereisawholebunchoflawsand
regulation already on the books, from the
straints on the most egregious forms of
speech.Thesehavebeenineffectivebecauseof
institutional dysfunction. But if our institu-
tions are truly dysfunctional, does it make
sense to create another set of institutions to
regulate. Or should we not draw the lesson
that any regulation is only as good as the po-
litical culture that supports it? Third, it is true
thatthestructuresofdemocraticdeliberation
aredeeplybroken.Butthereisadeeperpolit-
ical economy here. Social media operates on
a set of monetising incentives. But broadcast
mediahasalsobeenthecreationof aparticu-
lar kind of political economy. The granting of
licenceshasalwaysbeenapoliticalaffair;the
pricing structures set by the TRAI have per-
verse consequences for quality and competi-
tion.Ourcurrentmedialandscapeisneithera
market nor a state. The more the underlying
politicaleconomyof mediaisbroken,theless
likelyitisthatfreespeechwillstandachance.
This is an area that does require serious
thinking: Not post facto content regulation,
but a market structure that can help provide
more checks and balances, and not let bad
media drive out good. But with all due re-
specttotheSupremeCourt,thisissomething
for Parliament to think about. The Court suo
motu setting up a regulatory framework
does not inspire confidence. It is not its juris-
diction to begin with.
The need for more regulation for speech,
thefearthatitcanincite,isalsoalwaysajudg-
mentonthepeople.Whenweregulatespeech
toomuch,wearenotjusttargetingthespeech.
We are in effect saying: We cannot trust the
peopletomaketherightkindsofdistinctions.
Thetragedyofoursituationisthathatespeech
mongersthinkhatespeechmakesthempop-
ularintheeyesof thepeople,andthestateby
repressingthem,unwittinglyconfirmsthear-
gument. If the people don’t want to be saved
fromboththepowerof hateandthepowerof
the state, the law will be a feeble instrument
to save them.
The writer is contributing editor,
The Indian Express

D
OUBTS OVER THE Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine that had sur-
faced in the first week of September, after one of the volunteers devel-
oped a nerve inflammation, have been put to rest. On September 12, the
UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency certified it safe, af-
ter a review by an independent committee. Following the UK regula-
tor’s go-ahead, the Drugs Controller General of India (DGCI) has given permission to the
project’s Indian collaborator, the Serum Institute of India, to resume trials on the vaccine
JHULELAL AND PEACE
in the country. It is still not clear when this vaccine candidate — the frontrunner amongst The symbiosis of religions under the singing saint in Sindh lasted three centuries
the preventives against COVID-19 that have entered the final phase of the clinical trials
— will be ready for mass use. But some of the uncertainty about the timeframe seems to
belifting.AstraZenecahassaiditsvaccinecouldbeavailable“bytheendof theyearorearly Khaled Ahmed
next year”. India’s Minister of Health and Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan has also said
that he expects that a vaccine against the contagion will be available by early 2021. But IF YOU WANT to win the heart of a Sindhi to save a Muslim woman who was coveted terroristgangborninIraqtoavengetheriseof
Pakistani, sing the song of Lal Shahbaz by a Hinduking. He is saidto have finally dis- theShiamajoritythere.ItspresenceinPakistan
intheRajyaSabha,onThursday,headdedacaveat:“Itwouldstilltaketimetoreachevery-
QalandarofSehwanSharif—“damadammast appearedfromthevillageof Jahejan,laterre- together with al Qaeda threatens the way of
one.” The minister’s note of caution is important. qalandar”—containingreferencetoJhulelal,a named as Udero Lai, where he had asked his life the Pakistani people, as shown by this at-
Scaling up production of the vaccine will take time, even after it gets regulatory ap- Hindu deity; and to Ali, the martyred caliph followers to build two sanctuaries in the tack,carriedoutbyalocalMuslimconvertedto
proval. The WHO too reckons that “supplies of the vaccine will be limited in the short to whom the Shia branch of Muslims celebrate same complex: One for his Hindu followers, violence.NotlongagothemausoleumofData
medium term”. The question then is: How should priority be allocated in administering in the face of a majority Sunni opposition. In a samadhi, and another one for his Muslim Ganj Bakhsh was suicide-bombed in Lahore,
thevaccine?Thismayinvolve balancingdifferent,andcompeting,considerations.Should Pakistan,thecultofShahbazQalandarhasde- followers, a “qabr”. wherenotlongagoHindus,SikhsandMuslims
the health worker at the frontline of the battle against the novel coronavirus be the first fiedassaultsfromextremistIslampenetrating This wonderful symbiosis of religions un- lived peacefully together and accepted the
the Sindh province. Sindhis continue to sing dertheguardiansaintsingingintheSindhilan- mystic saint as the guardian spirit of the city.
to be inoculated? Or should arrangements be made to shield the elderly and those with
anddanceattheshrineofSehwanindefiance guagelastedforthreecenturiesandmoulded Another saint of Lahore, Mian Mir, be-
the comorbidities? What about targeting hotspots in crowded areas to reduce the rate of of the ideology of the state while bowing to a thepersonalityoftheSindhimanwhowillnot longed to the same category of pluralist faith.
transmissions?Whatplaceshouldtheimperativeof revivingtheeconomyhaveinthevac- heretic Muslim saint. dropareferencetoaHindugodmergedinthe The Golden Temple of Amritsar was built
cination strategy? Sehwan boasts of the mausoleum of the personality of the saint of Sehwan. The song around a man-made pool (Sarovar) that was
Medicalethicistshave,forlong,advocatedpublicparticipation inmedical researchbe- mysticsaintSyedUsmanMarwandi,popularly has been rendered into Punjabi too and now completedbythefourthSikhGuru,GuruRam
known as Lal Shahbaz Qalandar. He had ar- How did Jhulelal become a invadesthevastterritoryofPunjab.Thesingers Das in 1577. Guru Arjun, the fifth Guru of
yond clinical trials or improving research processes. A growing body of scholarship has
suggested that fair medical processes require conversations between the healthcare pro-
rivedfromAfghanistanandprobablychanged saint of the Muslims? He is of “Jhulelalan”, like Abida Parveen, have be- Sikhism,requestedMianMirtolayitsfounda-
his real name to hide his devotion to Ali like said to have appeared on the come legends in Pakistan. Sindhis all over the tion stone in 1589. Next to the grave of Mian
fessional and the layperson. India, unfortunately, has been an outlier to such debates — mostMuslimmystics.AshesanginSindhi,he world greet each other with the words, Mir in Lahore, is the tomb of the Mughal
theyhaverarelygonebeyondacademicandactivists’circles.Butthesecond-worstCOVID- inducted the Hindu god Jhulelal (red bride-
island of Khwaja Khizr near “Jaikochavando Jhulelal thenjathinda Beda- princessNadiraBegum,thewifeofPrinceDara
19 infected country cannot afford to leave difficult questions around the vaccine too late. groom) in his incantations to show respect to Sukkur, in Sindh, to save a Paar”(Jhulelalwillleadyoutowardssuccess)”. Shikoh who tried to teach the Hindu and
It is important that any decision on who gets the vaccine first is informed by healthy in- his Hindu followers. Muslim woman who was But the Sunni orthodoxy of northern Muslimcommunitiestolivetogetherinpeace.
teractions among different sections of people — health experts, social scientists, econo- In his paper, “Visual Representations of coveted by a Hindu king. He Pakistan, strengthened by their participation KhushwantSinghoncelivedinLahoreand
Jhulelalin India and Pakistan”, Michel Boivin in jihad, began to dominate Pakistan’s ideol- waslovedbyallhisMuslimfriends.Whatcon-
mists, patients’ groups. It’s time that such conversations began.
writes: “The term Jhulelal is actually the is said to have finally ogyinthe1980s.Sunnimadrasas,enrichedby nected Singh to Muslims was Sikhism itself.
name of a Hindu deity Jhulelal, who is wor- disappeared from the village jihad,begantopenetrateSindhto“setitright”; Theholybook,AdiGranth,wasnotacollection
of Jahejan, later renamed as
THE GAME STARTS
shipped by the Sindhi Hindus. However, the andtodaythreatenthefoundationsoftheplu- ofpunishingedictsbutananthologyofmysti-
Sufi Muslims started using the term Jhulelal Udero Lai, where he had ralistcultureofSindh,particularlybyallowing calpoemsculledfromPunjabiandRajputclas-
only after the song Dama Dam Mast forcible marriages of Hindu girls to Muslims. sics, from Baba Farid to Kabir and Meera. The
Qalandar became famous, in which Lal asked his followers to build The mausoleum of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in compilationofSikhscripturebeganunderthe
Much delayed IPL will begin with hope and excitement as Shahbaz Qalandar has been referred to as two sanctuaries in the same Sehwan Sharif was targeted again and again faith’sfounder,GuruNanak,whothoughtofit
Jhulelal Qalandar.” (Pakistan: Alternative complex: One for his Hindu as Muslims and Hindus sang and danced to- because of his attraction to the idea of ahl-e-
usual, but also never-before challenges Imaginings of the Nation State) gether at the shrine. In February 2017, a “sui- kitab (People of the Book) in Islam.

F
followers, a samadhi, and
How did Jhulelal become a saint of the cide” bombing at the shrine killed 88, includ-
OR MUCH OF this year, the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League seemed Muslims? He is said to have appeared on the another one for his Muslim ing women and children. The attack was The writer is consulting editor,
the unluckiest of all. As recently as last May, the tournament was shrouded in island of Khwaja Khizrnear Sukkur,in Sindh, followers, a ‘qabr’. carriedoutbytheIslamicState(ISIS),theSunni Newsweek Pakistan
uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this backdrop, the start of this
much-delayed tournament is a coup of sorts. However, the 53-day tourna-
ment would be without spectators, glamour, and celebrations that mark the
annual mid-summer festival.
For players, it’s an unusual challenge they are not prepared for. They will be inside a SEPTEMBER 19, 1980, FORTY YEARS AGO
bio-secure bubble for nearly two months. Cricketers would have to deal with 'the lock-
down-triggered rustiness and also the fear of getting infected with the virus. The hotels FLASH FLOODS IN ORISSA 80,000 hectares in Cuttack and Puri have the construction wing of the BRO is a civil-
are equipped with amenities, but to survive without a social life and fan interaction could FLASH FLOODS IN the Bansadhara river been inundated. ian outfit and cannot be bound by army
prove to be claustrophobic. It’s cruel irony that Sharjah is one of the venues. Not long ago, deluged the divisional headquarter town rules.
of Gunupur in the Koraput district of Orissa BRO WORKERS’ CASE
the Sharjah Cup was the most romanticised cricket fixture. Sharjah has lost its festivity
and glory, and this year the IPL too must sacrifice its extravagance.
taking a toll of more than 100 lives and CIVILIANS EMPLOYED IN the Border Roads IMPASSE ON TARAPUR
causing widespread damage to property. Organisation (BRO) are agitated over the THE US HOUSE of Representatives has
Nonetheless, a lot is riding on this IPL, a tournament that was famously called reces- Only 10 bodies have been recovered so far imposition of army rules on them. Their de- voted against the sale of nuclear fuel to
sion-free by its founder Lalit Modi. The heavily invested sponsors and broadcaster, still — including those of the Gunupur addi- mand which has been echoed in India, leaving the Carter administration to
nursing lockdown wounds, are hoping T20 cricket, like always, will not disappoint them. tional commercial tax manager, his wife Parliament and in the press is now before fight the battle on the issue in the Senate.
They are also punting heavily on the anticipation of fans, who have been deprived of live and daughter. About 30 per cent of the the judiciary. Next week, the Supreme The vote was 298 to 98. The administration
actionduringthelockdown.TheIPLactionwillbebeamedto100countries.InIndiaalone houses in the area are believed to have Court’s constitution bench is going to be- believes it has a better chance in the Senate
been washed away by the floods. The gin hearing on petitions filed by several although the Foreign Relations Committee
550 million are expected to tune in. Fingers are crossed, the stakeholders are calculating
state’s chief minister J B Patnaik, who has employees challenging the validity of the voted 8-7 against it. Both houses must vote
that in case they are able to dodge the virus, a pot of gold awaits them at the end of the returned from Delhi, has sought the inter- government order which made the Army to bar the shipment to override the Carter
difficult obstacle course. They will hope that the action that unfolds in the middle will be vention of the army and the airforce for re- Act and Rules applicable to them for pur- Administration’s decision to honour the
top-class. But it would be an atypical IPL edition. lief operations. Standing crops in more than poses of discipline. Their contention is that Tarapur fuel pact.

Ahmedabad

9
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2020
THE IDEAS PAGE
Lift the veil on the parampara
The guru-shishya relationship in Indian music is grounded not just in a power imbalance, but in a
celebration of inequality, which makes it vulnerable to abuse, which is then romanticised
T M Krishna
THESHOCKINGALLEGATIONSofsexualabuse
and harassment against (late) Ramakant
Gundecha and Akhilesh Gundecha have
shakentheHindustanimusicfirmament.But
truth be told, many have in private acknowl-
edgedthatthesestoriesarenotexceptions.So
manyinstanceslikethisarespokenof onlyin
whispered tones by people fearful that the
well-oiledgossipnetworkof Hindustanimu-
sic will carry their words to the powerful
within this close-knit community. In 2018,
when similar allegations were made about
Carnaticmusicians,allwasquietonthenorth-
ern front. The name of one Hindustani musi-
cian cropped up, only to disappear in a jiffy,
and nothing more was said.
Theworldof Hindustanimusic—though
to all appearances more modern compared
to its southern cousin — is actually more
deeplyentrenchedinthepatriarchalandme-
dieval mindset that besets both systems. At
the heart of this rot is the worshipful regard
inwhichtheguru-shishyaparamparaisheld.
Some senior Hindustani musicians literally
walkaroundliketheyareavatarsof somede-
ityortheother!Thepedestalonwhichgurus
are placed by Hindustani musicians is far
higher than any seat given to their counter-
parts in Dakshin Bharat. Equally, despite all
the differences and petty politics between
musicians, the “tradition” of watching each
other’s back is far more prevalent in the
Hindustaniworld.Infact,Carnaticmusicians
always talk enviously about how Hindustani
musicians come together to put up a unified
front when needed.
In such a context, it has been heartening
to see Hindustani musicians, old and young,
come out and speak up against sexual ha-
rassment.Unsurprisingly, noneof thesuper-
stars, such as Amjad Ali Khan, Hariprasad
Chaurasia or Zakir Hussain, have thought it
necessary to even make an obligatory com-
ment. But what intrigues me is that many
whocondemnthesexualharassmentsimul-
taneously demand that the guru-shishya
parampara be protected.
The question in my mind is: What are
we saving?
An inquiry into this question must nec-
essarily be dispassionate, our mind shorn of
allthatwesharedwithourguruorgurusand
all we treasure about them. A system cannot
be evaluatedbasedonpersonal experiences.
What must be determined is whether the
system —itscorestructure — is safe,respect-
ful, and non-abusive of, students. That is, ir-
respective of the nature of the guru, does the
system provide security and strength and
empower the student emotionally and psy-
chologicallytostandonherorhisown?Once
this question is asked, the answer is self-ev-
ident. Like most relationships, the guru-
shishya relationship is grounded in a power
imbalance, but here, crucially, the inequality
is celebrated. The need to be subservient to,
indeed submit to, the master is an implicit
necessity.Letmesayitasitis:Theparampara
is thus structurally flawed. No doubt there
will be claims that I seek to destroy some-
thing ancient. But a storied past must never
be a defence against criticism. I seek not to
destroy but to question. It is not enough to
Sambit Patra
India has had no dearth of skilled politicians
— some good at public administration and
some goodat public welfare. However, what
India has truly missed is having a leader at
the helm who is a genuine reformer by con-
viction. We’ve had politicians who’ve dis-
playedforeigndegreesandalsoarticulateda
great vision. But when it came to genuinely
implementing reforms which make a differ-
ence in the lives of people, most politicians
have not been able to pass the test. This ap-
pliestomostof ourpastprimeministerstoo.
P V Narasimha Rao oversaw one of the most
reform-orientederasinourcountry,butwere
these reforms truly carried out with convic-
tion or borne out of compulsion? Things are
notalwaysblackandwhite,butwhatisclear
arethemissedopportunitiesduringtheUPA’s
rulefrom2004-14.Aneconomistbecamethe
prime minister but sadly the country saw no
new reforms implemented. Was this omis-
sion by choice or compulsion? Perhaps only
Manmohan Singh can answer this.
The last few years under Narendra Modi
have seen the most reform activity ever un-
deranygovernmentof India.Itwasnotwith-
out reason that Barack Obama called Modi
“India’s reformer in chief”. After 10 years of
reforms inertia, India saw a slew of reforms
because Modi is not a reformer by compul-
punish abusers; an entire overhaul of how
we teach these art forms is imperative.
AsKalidasasaidaboutpoetry:“Notallpo-
emsaregoodbecausetheyareold.Allpoems
are not bad because they are new. Good and
wise people examine both and decide
whether a poem is good or bad. Only a fool
will be blindly led by what others say.”
The guru-shishya structure is inherently
prone to abuse — of all sorts — yet, so often,
theabuseisromanticised.Whenstudentsare
forced to commit to hours of household
chores just to receive those few moments of
wisdom,itiscelebratedassacrificeandcom-
mitment and endurance — “the guru testing
the student”, we are told. The practice is then
normalisedwhenwesay“itwasallworthit”.
Allofuspractisingtheseartformsknowofthe
psychological manipulation and emotional
trauma that prevails, and all we have said is,
“This is part of the learning process. You have
to go through it”. I am not judging musicians
of thepastbytoday’sethicalnorms,butthere
isnoreasontoacceptthestandardsofthepast.
The least we can do today is to admit that “it
was just wrong”. Such an acknowledgement
is a step forward. Even today, students and
teachers see the service of the guru as a guru
dakshina. Service is a dangerous idea and of-
tentraversesmanydomainsofabuse.Itisalso
truethatabuseincreasesexponentiallywhen
thestudentcomesfromaneconomicallypoor
or socially marginalised community.
It is possible to have a deeply involved re-
lationshipthatisnottoxic.Butforthistohap-
pen, we need to reimagine our structures of
learning.Thesystemmustbeginwithrespect
for students, and recognition of their inde-
pendenceandrightsasindividuals.Thisisvi-
tal because the power structure is naturally
tiltedinfavourof theguru.Butforthistohap-
pen, we need to first “humanise” gurus. The
paramparathatdemandsobedienceandun-
questioning deference, only because some-
oneisaguru,needstobedemolished.Simply
put, gurus must be respected for being do-
main experts — nothing more. If the respect
grows beyond this, it must come from a mu-
A reformer by conviction
PMModihasconnectedthereformagendatothecommonman
sion but by conviction.
For decades, reforms used to be the sole
prerogative of economists and pink papers,
asif thecommonmanhadnothingtodowith
them. Modi has changed this system and
brought reforms to the centre of public dis-
course. He has demonstrated to the people
how reforms transform their lives. Reforms
carried out by PM Modi have brought about
a positive change in the lives of crores of
Indians. His interventions are not limited to
earning plaudits from arm-chair experts but
intended to bring real-world change.
Just look at the momentous reforms un-
dertaken in the field of agriculture. India has
had dozens of farmer leaders but none took
stepstoempowerfarmers.Adoctororanen-
gineer or a lawyer could sell his services to
anyoneinanypartofthecountry,butafarmer
could not sell his produce to anyone except
themandiinhistown.Thisledtoaviciouscy-
cle of low remuneration and low technology
adoption for the farmers as a result of these
prohibitive rules. In one fell swoop, reforms
by the Modi Government have ensured that
farmers can selltheirproduce toanyone out-
sidehismandi.Thiswillempowerhimtosell
where he gets a better price and also grow
whatgetshimabetterprice.Nowhewillalso
be able to enter into an agreement to grow
The guru-shishya structure
is inherently prone to abuse
— of all sorts — yet, so often,
the abuse is romanticised.
When students are forced to
commit to hours of
household chores just to
receive those few moments
of wisdom, it is celebrated as
sacrifice and commitment
and endurance — ‘the guru
testing the student’, we are
told. The practice is then
normalised when we say ‘it
was all worth it’. All of us
practising these art forms
know of the psychological
manipulation and emotional
trauma that prevails, and all
we have said is, ‘This is part
of the learning process. You
have to go through it’.
and sell specifically to a private player. This
willnotonlybringmorestabilitytohisincome
butwillalsoimprovetheadoptionofmodern
techniques and technology.
Politiciansareoftenblamedfornotbeing
able to envisage the second and third-order
effects. However, Modi’s legacy contains re-
forms which have positive externalities. The
IBChasempoweredlendersto getbacktheir
money while liberating entrepreneurs from
thestigmaof failedenterprisesandenabling
them to make a fresh start. RERA is not only
removing the information asymmetry and
securingbuyers’moneybutalsoaccelerating
project completion. The entry of private en-
terprisesinIndia’sspacesectorwillmakeita
win-win proposition for both the sector and
the common man.
One constant feature of PM Modi’s gov-
ernance has been how he is making differ-
ent sectors more competitive by involving
market forces. Today, commercial coal min-
ing is a reality. FDI has been permitted or in-
creased in insurance, real estate, defence,
etc. GST would have remained a dream had
PM Modi not shown the courage to imple-
ment it and spend his political capital on this
important reform. To the critics of GST im-
plementation, I would like to ask, should we
have waited for another decade for a 100 per
C R Sasikumar
tually evolving relationship.
A problematic area in Hindustani and
Carnaticmusicistheinformalityinthelearn-
ing. And this extends to the institutions that
musicians build. This informality is justified
onthebasisthatitcreatesaunique,uncondi-
tionedspaceforlearning.Informalitycantake
so many forms, sometimes resulting in
episodesofincrediblelearning,whileonother
occasions, there are just demands made by
the guru because he is in a position to make
them. Therefore, we have to be very careful
whiletreadingthisterritory.AmIadvocating
fortheinstitutionalisationof theseartforms?
No,Iamnot.Thereisalottolearnbeyondthe
school-university-class framework, but such
an arrangement cannot be an arbitrary, un-
caring,studenton-callsystem.Iwon’tgointo
the possible redressal mechanisms because
they will remain ineffective until we lift the
veil on the guru-shishya parampara and see
it for what it is.
It must also be put on record that all we
celebrate about the guru-shishya parampara
—theintimatelearning,sharingthatgoesbe-
yond the syllabus — is far from unique to
Indian culture. Or indeed even to music. In
every sphere of activity, there have been and
there are students and teachers who share a
bond that goes beyond what the university
demanded of them. And there are stories of
greatgurusandfamousshishyasacrossdisci-
plines and geographies. Learning is not time-
bound or tied up in official seals. The little
things that the teacher says during a walk or
overacupof teacouldmakeaworldof differ-
ence. The problem with our concretised ver-
sionisthatthispromiseof magicisusedasan
excusetonormaliseinequality.Inotherfields,
teachersandstudentshavedriftedapart,even
vehemently disagreeing with one another,
eachfindingtheirownareasof influence.But
intheguru-shishyaparamparaofIndian“clas-
sical” music and dance, rarely can a shishya
stand up against her or his guru and hope to
survive another day. Therein lies the story.
The writer is a musician and author
cent perfect GST? Sometimes it is better to
implement with an open mind rather than
not implement at all.
Political scientists and experts often
don’t realise a Modi wave till it sweeps the
entire opposition off its feet in the results.
This is because the Modi wave is not an elec-
tion phenomenon. The Modi wave has been
constructed bit by bit over five years, as peo-
ple get the direct benefits of good gover-
nance and reforms, which they could not see
for 70 years. When a poor household gets a
gas connection, toilet, house or direct bene-
fit in its bank account, it is because of a re-
formed process of governance. When a mid-
dle-class household gets an income tax
refund in weeks or gets cheaper medicines
or saves time in daily travel due to a metro,
it is because of a reformed process of gover-
nance. When an entrepreneur gets faster
clearances and one of the world’s lowest
corporate tax rates, it is because of a re-
formed process of governance.
Irrespective of what the political pundits
or arm-chair economists feel, 130 crore
Indians have seen the impact of Narendra
Modi’s reforms in their lives and are giving
their stamp of approval through their vote.
The writer is national spokesperson, BJP
WHAT THE OTHERS SAY
“The country is facing a second wave of coronavirus because the government
is losing track of the outbreak’s spread. Testing capacity is being outpaced by
an exponentially growing epidemic.”
Chargesheets
& fairy tales
When the police produce voluminous
chargesheets, a judge should be suspicious.
Because much is at stake
Colin Gonsalves
CASES OF POLITICAL activists who commit
no overt act, fire no gun, throw no bomb
and whose only weapon is their fierce or-
atory and belief in the transition from cap-
italism to socialism, must be separated
fromterroristcases.Thereareundoubtedly
many cases of terrorism, but they are easy
to identify by the prominence of an overt
act andthe immediatedevastation caused.
In the political cases of the Delhi riots kind
where young persons are being thrown
into COVID-infested jails, one would need
super magnifying glasses to identify the
overt act, weaponry used and the devasta-
tion caused. In such cases, the normal lan-
guage of a chargesheet under UAPA is re-
placed by storytelling, innuendo,
presumption, extrapolation, stretching of
the narrative and downright lying.
Criminal law judges of the post-inde-
pendenceperiodhadafinely-tunedunder-
standing and instincts of criminal law ju-
risprudence. The most important attribute
that a criminal law expert possessed was a
fundamental distrust of the police, the de-
siretoquestion,theintentiontolookatdoc-
uments closely, the sceptical scrutiny of
statements made and an intense commit-
ment not to allow the general gup-shup of
the police replace clear-cut admissible evi-
dence against the accused. As the recently
declared Watali judgment of the Supreme
Courtwouldshow,allthishasdisintegrated
intotellingafinefairytaleandcoveringthat
absence of a core with 17,000 pages (as in
the Delhi riots case) of pure drivel in order
todeterajudgefromlookingattheevidence
at the stage of bail. The inevitable result
wouldbethatthesemodern-daysecondna-
tional movement heroes would rot in jail
and perhaps die there while their trials ran
for a decade.
Had the police tried these tricks on the
earlier generation of criminal court judges
suchas,forexample,VivianBose,Icanimag-
ine the judge leaning back in his chair look-
ing down scornfully at the masses of paper
constitutingthechargesheetandaskingthe
investigationofficertoproduceonesheetof
paper,justonefromthe17,000pageswhich
would show him unambiguously that the
accused had committed a heinous offence.
Themomentthepolicedodramaofproduc-
ingsupervoluminouschargesheets,acrim-
inaljudgeshouldknowthatthereishanky-
panky going on.
The decline began in the Supreme
Court over a decade ago when a particu-
lar judge who had a background in in-
come tax law was assigned criminal mat-
ters for many years. He incorporated civil
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
EXPANDING MARRIAGE
THIS REFERS TO the editorial 'Out and
equal’, (IE, September 18). The issue of
legal recognition of marital alliance be-
tween two consenting adults irrespec-
tive of their gender and sexual orienta-
tion has a strong case in its favour and
hencedeserveswiderdeliberationboth
inpolicy-makingcirclesaswellasatthe
societal level. The existing laws govern-
ing marriages between a heterosexual
couple have evolved over many years,
andtheyhaveinbuiltsafeguardstopro-
tect the interests of the traditionally
weaker gender. A similar traditional
definitioncannotbeimposedonhomo-
sexual couples. A separate gender-neu-
tral marriage law incorporating nu-
ancedsubjectsliketherightsandduties
of an individual partner needs to be
given due consideration.
Sudip Kumar Dey, Kolkata
THIS REFERS TO the editorial, ‘Out and
equal’ (IE, September 18). While the
validity of same-sex relationships
eliminates discrimination between
the genders of the partners, marriage
under the Hindu Marriage Act reaf-
firms it vigorously. The rights and roles
of husband and wife are distinct in
many important circumstances,
whether it is the solemnisation of the
marriage by taking seven rounds or
domestic violence or adultery. In that
case, a marriage between homosexual
couples would be a step backwards,
into the sexual differences that the
Hindu society imposes. Moreover,
even if such marriages are legalised,
social acceptance would be hard to
come by. It would be interesting to see
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
— THE GUARDIAN
procedure and civil law principles into
criminal jurisprudence, undermining the
latter’s purity so that we can now have
judgments like the Watali case, delivered
recently in the Supreme Court, laying
down the preposterous proposition that
while denying bail, the court may rely on
evidence that is not admissible under the
Evidence Act during the trial.
The story I am going to tell you is a true
story of an alleged Maoist. It is alleged that
he made a confession to a police officer to
the effect that he was a member of the
Maoist party and was responsible for ter-
rorist offences. This statement was made
to a police officer and so was inadmissible
in evidence, unlike a confession made to
the magistratewhich is admissible. Onthis
sole piece of evidence, the police involved
him in 16 criminal cases in Maharashtra,
Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh even
though in 12 of those cases his name did
not appear in the FIRs. In the remaining
cases, there was no overt act attributed to
him. All that was said was that he was a
member of the Central Committee of the
party and the brains behind the terrorist
offences. He was arrested in 2009. Four
chargesheets were filed. All were dropped.
Histrialproceededonthefifthchargesheet,
and he was acquitted in 2016 of all terror-
istcharges.Bythen, inhis70s, hehadspent
seven years in jail battling a prostate infec-
tion,irritablebowelsyndrome,ophthalmic
ailments, heart problems, high blood pres-
sure, arthritis, slip disc and spondylitis.
The Andhra Pradesh High Court
grantedbailandtrenchantlydealtwith the
objection of the public prosecutor to the
grant of bail when she said that 20 cases
werependingagainsttheaccused:“Itisnot
as if any of the petitioners participated in
those offences at the field level. They were
includedinthe casesonthebasisof certain
broad resolutions passed at a meeting of
Maoist party. It is nobody’s case that the
petitionerhatchedanyplan.Thisisafitcase
for granting bail”. The Supreme Court dis-
missed the state appeal.
Similarly, the Delhi trial court acquitted
theaccusedinthefollowingmanner:“…no
evidencerelieduponbytheprosecutionhas
been found to be admissible…the testi-
monies of the prosecution witnesses suffer
from infirmities… the recoveries have not
beenproved…the(confession)madebythe
accused (to a police officer) cannot be read
inevidence.Thematerialrelieduponbythe
prosecution is not reliable and admissible.”
Similarly, the Patiala District Court ac-
quitted the accused, “no recovery was ef-
fected…prosecutionfailedtoprovethatthe
accused was a member of a militant
group…there was no evidence to show ac-
cused had any link with terrorist activities
or had any link with any enemy country.”
By the time he was acquitted in all the
cases,hehadspentadecadeofthemostpro-
ductive period of his life in jail.
The writer is a senior advocate, Supreme
Court, and founder-director of Human
Rights Law Network
IDEAS
ONLINE
ONLY IN THE EXPRESS
● HOW AMU WAS FOUNDED:
SADAF AFREEN AND
MUKUND SHARMA
● WHENINDIA CHALLENGED
THEUN CHARTER:
MILOON KOTHARI
www.indianexpress.com
how the Supreme Court decides this
ticklish issue.
G Chouksey, Pune
INDIE MEDIA
THIS REFERS TO the report, ‘If you want
guidelines, regulate digital media first,
Centre tells SC" (IE, September 18). The
parallel media on digital platforms has
been able to initiate a culture of public
discourse and citizen journalism. The
internet has provided a stage for inde-
pendent journalists, unhesitant to take
up pressing issues as they are driven by
a different commercial model. While
broadcastnewshasfailedtobalancebe-
tween “journalist freedom" and “re-
sponsiblejournalism",digitalmediahas
appealed to the public which wants to
questionandreasonratherthanoutrage
and gossip.
Saundarya Jain, via email
Ahmedabad
 10 EXPRESS NETWORK
Play Store drops Paytm for ‘gambling’,
restores it after scheme changed
PRANAV MUKUL
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 18
GOOGLETOOKPaytmoff itsPlay
Store for several hours on Friday
– and restored it after the pay-
ments and financial services
platformhadbeenforcedtotake
“corrective measures” to meet
the policy requirements of the
Android app marketplace.
Google said Paytm had vio-
lated its gambling policies. The
developmentscameadaybefore
the start of the Indian Premier
League (IPL), which is known to
spike interest in so-called ‘fan-
tasy sports’ — Internet-based
games where users win rewards
for creating virtual teams based
on the performance of their ac-
tual counterparts.
Paytm had on Friday an-
nounced the fantasy “Paytm
Cricket League”, in which users
couldwincashrewardsbasedon
the actual performance of crick-
eters in the IPL. This was on the
lines of the fantasy sports plat-
CONG-BJP TUSSLE ON FARM BILLS
Contentious Bills slated for RS, Centre
talks to non-Congress Oppn parties
MANOJ C G
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 18
THERAJYASabhawilltakeupfor
passage three contentious Bills,
including the two farm-related
ones, over the weekend, even as
the government and ruling BJP
took different approaches with
theOpposition,whichisprotest-
ing all these proposed laws.
While the BJP stepped up its
attack on the Congress, senior
Union ministers are learnt to
have reached out to some non-
Congress opposition parties.
Sources said Agriculture
Minister Narendra Singh Tomar
and Railways Minister Piyush
Goyal also established contact
with the Congress's Rajya Sabha
leadership but appeared to be
not in a mood to concede to the
latter's demand to refer these
Bills to select committees.
While the Banking
Regulation (Amendment) Bill is
listed for Saturday, Farmers
(Empowerment and Protection)
Agreement on Price Assurance
and Farm Services Bill and
Essential Commodities
(Amendment) Bill are listed for
Sunday. The Congress and other
opposition parties are opposed
to all three Bills, as also the
Farmers’ Produce Trade and
Commerce (Promotion and
OFFICE OF EXECUTIVE ENGINEER (C)DR-III
Kanhaiyar Nagar New Delhi-110035
Phone : 011-27394876 Email: eecdr3@gmail.com
S.
Name of work
No.
Providing consultancy services
for insitu Treatment of 90 MGD
1.
STP Waste Water at Najafgarh
Drain near Badshahpur Drain.
Further details in this regard can be seen at https://govtprocurement.delhi.gov.in.
ISSUED BY P.R.O. (WATER)
Advt. No. J.S.V. 157/2020-21
form Dream11 — also IPL’s title
sponsor — and in contravention
of Play Store policies.
Paytm was restored on Play
Store after it removed the “cash-
back component” on the Paytm
Cricket League. According to
Google, if an app leads con-
sumers to an external website
that allows them to participate
in paid tournaments to win real
money or cash prizes, it is a vio-
lation of its policies.
Under Paytm’s offer, users
wouldreceivevirtualstickersde-
picting cricketers playing in the
IPLuponaddingaminimumofRs
500 in their Paytm wallet. The
userscouldthenentertheseplay-
ers in a virtual team – and earn
points based on how those play-
ersperformedinactualmatches.
Attheendof thetournament,
the top 1 lakh participants —
ranked on the basis of cumula-
tive points earned — would re-
ceive a scratch card, which
would enable them to win up to
Rs 1 lakh.
Bombay High Court had
E
EXPLAINED
Govthasnumbers,
●
butfacesstorm
WITH OPPOSITION parties closing ranks and NDA con-
stituent Shiromani Akali Dal withrawing its minister and
coming out in strong opposition of the farm Bills, the pas-
sage of these Bills are set to be a stormy affair in Rajya
Sabha. The goverment has the numbers. The absence of
many Opposition members due to the pandemic will only
help it, but opposition parties are gearing up for a fight to
make its voice heard nevertheless. With two seats vacant
in the 245-member House, the half-way mark is 122.
Facilitation) Bill.
The government side is
learnt to have approached some
non-Congressoppositionparties
with a proposal to have a meet-
ing with Tomar.
Outside Parliament, mean-
while,thewarof wordsbetween
Congress and BJP over the farm
Bills intensified Friday. The
Congress alleged that the Bills
were part of a “conspiracy” to
scrap MSP.
BJPpresidentJPNaddacoun-
tered,sayingtheCongresshadin
its 2019 manifesto promised to
“bring farmers out of APMC.”
He said: “Their manifesto
had said that the Essential
Commodities Act has become
outdated…we will free people
from its purview. PM Narendra
DELHI JAL BOARD
(Govt. of N.C.T. of Delhi)
PRESS NIT NO-X1 (2020-21)
Estimated Contract Earnest Tender processing
Value (ECV)/ Amount Money Fee Non
put to tender (Rs.) (EMD) (Rs.) Refundable (Rs.)
Lump Sum 3,77,800/- 1000/-
ruledlastyearthatDream11was
“undoubtedlyagameof skilland
not a game of chance” and that
it did not amount to gambling.
However, given Google's policy
to not allow such apps, Dream11
is not available on Play Store.
Google does allow other fantasy
sports apps such as the English
Premier League, which has a
similar component for football
teamsbutdoesnothave cash re-
wards.
In a blog post published on
Friday, Suzanne Frey, vice presi-
dent, Product, Android Security
and Privacy, said: “We don’t al-
low online casinos or support
any unregulated gambling apps
thatfacilitatesportsbetting.This
includes if an app leads con-
sumers to an external website
that allows them to participate
in paid tournaments to win real
money or cash prizes, it is a vio-
lation of our policies.
“When an app violates these
policies, we notify the developer
of the violation and remove the
app from Google Play until the
Modi has done it. Today, those
opposing these Bills...are speak-
ing the language of
middlemen...”
He said farmers, so far, were
had been tied by the APMC Act.
“That you can only sell your pro-
duce at the grain market. Wasn’t
that an era of slavery? PM Modi
said we will free them. Farmers
will be free to sell their produce
wherevertheywant—beitatthe
grainmarketoroutside,oratany
corner of the country...”
The Congress manifesto had
promised that if voted to power
it will “repeal the Agricultural
ProduceMarketCommitteesAct
and make trade in agricultural
produce—includingexportsand
inter-state trade — free from all
restrictions”.
Date of Release of
Last date/time
of receipt of
Tender/ Tender Id.
tender
2020_DJB_194647_1 19.10.2020
dtd.17.09.2020 upto 03.00 PM
Sd/-
Executive Engineer(C) DR-III
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2020
End digital apartheid, give devices
to EWS students: HC to schools
developer brings the app into Paytm’s chief executive officer
SOFI AHSAN
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 18
THE DELHI High Court ruled on
private unaided school has to
bear any additional cost, it must
bear it in the first instance with a
right to claim reimbursement
from the State in accordance
Khagesh B Jha and Secretary
Shikha Sharma Bagga, seeking
free laptops, Android phones or
electronictablets,withpackages
for high-speed Internet, for EWS
compliance. And in the case Vijay Shekhar Sharma tweeted: Friday that any intra-class gap withSection12(2)of theRTEAct, and DG students.
where there are repeated policy “We launched a UPI CashBack between fees-paying students 2009,” the court said. While government schools
violations,wemaytakemorese- campaignthismorning. Ourapp andthose belongingtoeconom- The judges warned of a could choose their own mode
rious action which may include gotsuspendedbyGoogleforthis. ically weaker sections (EWS) or domino effect in the EWS and and method of education, the
terminating Google Play India, you decide if giving cash disadvantaged groups (DG) DG category should children court said it should not “include
Developeraccounts.Ourpolicies back is gambling.” amounts to discrimination, and drop out of school because of anysuchmeans/methodswhich
are applied and enforced on all Paytm competes with orderedprivateschoolsandgov- this discrimination. “…continu- (are) nothing more than eye-
developers consistently.” Google Pay in India’s digital pay- ernment schools like Kendriya ity of learning should not break wash or a sham”. “In other
During the day, after its app ments space. Officials at the Vidyalayas in the Capital to pro- because once children step out words, there has to be one com-
was removed from Play Store, Noida-based company told The vide free gadgets as well as of learning, coming back is very mon minimum level/ standard
Paytm had said in a statement: Indian Express on Friday that Internet packages to the latter to difficult.Itisimportanttoensure of impartation of education for
“Today afternoon, we received Google Pay too, offers cashback end “digital apartheid”. that retrogression, if any, is tem- all schools.”
communication from Google promotions on the app. Theverdictwouldmainlyap- poraryandredressedtimely.The sIttalkedof lessonsoverSMS,
thattheyaresuspendingourapp However, Google had taken is- ply to schools conducting online relationship between children WhatsApp or by assignment as
because they believe this to be a sue with Paytm allowing partic- classesviatheSynchronousFace- and schools is of paramount im- all valid means and said that
violation of their Play Store poli- ipants in its offer to earn cash on to-Face Real Time medium in portance and should be contin- schools can adopt any as long as
cies on gambling. The Paytm the basis of the performance of view of the Covid-19 shutdown. ued at all costs in order to safe- they adhere to the minimum
Android app has thus been un- players selected by them in an The court ordered that a three- guard the learning progress normsprescribedundertheRTE.
listed from Google’s Play Store actual IPL match. member committee be set up made in the past several years,” The Division Bench also said the
andistemporarilyunavailableto According to the Paytm offi- withinaweektoidentifystandard the order says. court can interpret the provi-
users for new downloads or up- cials, the company had been gadgets and Internet packages. The court said a digital gap sions of the Act as per evolving
dates. While it is clear that all ac- pulled up by Google earlier over A Division Bench of Justices would also leave students with needs of the society and extend
tivities on Paytm are completely its gaming platform Paytm First Manmohan and Sanjeev Narula afeelingof inferiority,andhence the same to new technologies.
lawful, we have temporarily re- Games, in which users won cash saidtheschoolscouldseekreim- be a denial of equal protection The RTE Act requires private
movedthecashbackcomponent prizes for playing games such as bursement under the RTE Act. underArticle14andtheRTE,and schoolstoprovidefreeeducation
inanefforttomeetthePlayStore fantasy cricket, rummy, and “Toensurelevelplayingfieldand the spirit of the Constitution. to EWS and DG students, who
policy requirements.” ludo.PaytmFirstGamestoo,was to remedy this digital divide or The order came on a petition must comprise at least 25 per
In the evening, after the app removed from Play Store, and digital gap or ‘digital apartheid’ filed by the organisation ‘Justice cent of the strength of a class, till
had been restored on Google, has not been restored yet. in addition to segregation, if the For All’ through advocate Standard 8.
Delhi journalist arrested
under OSA, police say had
classified defence papers
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE
script reached between the two
foreign ministers in Moscow.”
NEWDELHI,SEPTEMBER18 Theothervideoisoffourmin-
utes, in Hindi, on the state of the
THE DELHI Police Special Cell has media,whichhetweetedwiththe
arrested a city-based strategic af- caption, “The state of Indian me-
fairsanalystandauthorunderthe dia today is pathetic. It was sup-
OfficialSecretsAct(OSA)alleging posedtobeawatchdog.Insteadit
thathehadbeenfoundinposses- has become a lapdog of the gov-
sion of defence-related classified ernment.”
papers. Rajeev Sharma, who has LateonFridaynight,Sharma's
previously worked with United Twitter account, which has over
News of India, The Tribune, and 5,300 followers, showed the fol-
Sakaal Times, and most recently lowing message: “Caution: This
wrote a piece for the Chinese
newspaper Global Times, was ar-
rested on September 14.
accountistemporarilyrestricted.
You're seeing this warning be-
cause there has been some un-
BACK TO SCHOOL
DCP (Special Cell) Sanjeev usual activity from this account.” An employee of a government school in Guwahati sprays disinfectant in a classroom on
Kumar Yadav said, “He is a resi- On September 7, Sharma Friday. Government schools in the state will reopen from September 21. Dasarath Deka
dent of Pitampura, and was ar- wroteapieceforGlobalTimes,ti-
restedbythesouthwesternrange tled 'A rapprochement road map
of Special Cell of the Delhi Police. for Beijing and New Delhi bene-
Hewasproducedbeforethemag- fits both countries', in which he SC ASKS SUDARSHAN TV ON ITS PLANS TO ALLAY CONCERNS
‘Apex court staying something is
istrate the next day, following said, “The steady deterioration of
which he was taken into police bilateral relations since the night
custodyforsixdays.Hewasfound ofMay5,whenthelateststandoff
like n-missile but had to step in’
to be in possession of some de- began,haspracticallyevaporated
fence-related classified docu- allthediplomaticgainsofthepast
ments.Investigationofthecaseis years in one stroke. The current
in progress.” crisis is the biggest threat to nor- asked Solicitor General Tushar sider his request to resume the
SharmarunsaYouTubechan- mal ties between the two sides EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Mehta for suggestions. show's broadcast. Referring to
nel called 'Rajeev Kishkindha', since 1962. It's a lose-lose situa- NEWDELHI,SEPTEMBER18 While agreeing to assist the contentions in the petition,
whichhas11,900subscribers.On tion for both. Their common ob- court, Mehta urged the bench to Justice Chandrachud said it
the day of his arrest, he uploaded jective must be to build a better THE SUPREME Court on Friday confine the present matter to shows flames in the background
two videos. One of them is an andpeacefulfuturefortheirpeo- said it had to step in and stay the SudarshanNewsandnotexpand of a clip showing speeches and
eight-minute video titled 'China ples and not a military buildup broadcast of Sudarshan TV's ittoframerulesfortheentireelec- characters in skull cap, beards
may still do mischief against one another.” As per show“UPSCJihad”onSeptember tronic media, as that question is and green T-shirts.
#IndiaChinaFaceOff',inwhichhe Sharma'sLinkedInaccount,hehas 15 because “nobody was taking pending before a bench headed “QuestionsareaskedwhyIAS
says, “Despite an agreement... writtenmanybooks.InMay2014, any action”. by CJI S A Bobde. and IPS Association does not act
reachedbetweentheforeignmin- he wrote a piece for Firstpost ti- “The Supreme Court staying The bench, also comprising when [AIMIM MP Asaduddin]
istersof IndiaandChina,theroad tled 'Why ex-IB chief Ajit Doval is something is like a nuclear mis- Justices Indu Malhotra and K M Owaisi asks Muslims to join civil
to peace is still heavily mined. thebestNSAIndiacouldeverget', sile.Butwehadtostepinbecause Joseph, frowned upon some im- services and flames are shown in
There is still no guarantee that inwhichhementionedhis“thou- nobody was taking any action,” ages used in the show and said background...there are remarks
everythingwillplayoutasperthe sandsofinteractionswithDoval”. Justice D Y Chandrachud said. A theyare“offensive”and“hurtful” like haramkhor.... Charts are
government official, he added, and should be removed. The shown about increasing number
“just wrote a letter —that’s all.” courtaskedthechannel'seditor- of Muslims in civil service and
GUJARAT STATE ELECTRICITY “Thismaybegoodoccasionto in-chief SureshChavhankewhat there are pictorial representa-
CORPORATION LIMITED getsomeself-regulationinplace,” heproposedtodotoassuagethe tions,” Justice Chandrachud
Justice Chandrachud said and concerns should the court con- observed.
Sikka Thermal Power Station At PO Sikka,
Dist. Jamnagar - 361141
e-mail: cegstps.gsecl@gebmail.com Website: www.gsecl.in
ANDHRA PRADESH MEDICAL SERVICES & BMC TO HC
CIN: U40100GJ1993SGC019988
‘Kangana’s
INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
E-Tender Notice No.163
Online Tenders are invited for 1) RENOVATION OF GSECL HOSPITAL IN
Plot No.9, Survey No.49, IT Park, Mangalagiri-522503, Guntur District.
Amaravathi Region, Andhra Pradesh. email : ce.aphmhidc@gmail.com Rs 2 cr damages
NEW COLONY AREA @ SIKKA TPS. 2) CONSTRUCTION OF 2 NOS. OF
RCC WATCH TOWERS FOR CISF AT GSECL SIKKA TPS 3) Repairing and
Tenders are invited for Civil: T.N No.3/APMSIDC/Technical/2020-21,
Dt.18.09.2020.1) Supply, installation and commissioning of Oxygen
claim bogus in
replacement work of fire protection Hydrant line & Pumps Overhauling
etc. as & when required basis at SIKKA TPS 4) Work of Painting &
Generation Plant at GGH, Kurnool, GGH, Kadapa, SVRGGH, Tirupati & GGH,
Anantapuramu in A.P (2nd Call) 2) Providing a) Sanitation, b) Security &
view of unlawful
Refilling of CO2 Gas & DCP in Fire Extinguishers & Refilling of Air in B.A c) Pest & Rodent Control Services under the control of APVVP Hospitals &
DME Hospitals & institutions Under Package-1 (Srikakulam, Vizianagaram,
additions’
sets as and when require basis at Sikka TPS 5) Work of Re-routing of
Visakhapatnam & East Godavari Districts) Package-2 (West Godavari,
various instruments in MRS system at Sikka TPS. 6) Providing and fixing
Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam & Nellore Districts) Package-3 (Chittoor,
aluminum window in 3 Nos. block of IV type (Block No. 402, 403 & 404) OMKARGOKHALE
Kadapa, Kurnool & Anantapur Districts) 3) Providing Project Management
and 2 Nos. block of II type (Block No. 206 & 219) in Sikka TPS colony MUMBAI,SEPTEMBER18
Consultancy Services for effective monitoring and execution of the projects
(Phase - I). 7) Supply of various size of MS ERW Pipes & Fittings for FIRE under NADU-NEDU Under three Packages in the State of AP through Reverse
AND SERVICE WATER LINES for Workshop Section in Unit-3&4 at Sikka THEBRIHANMUMBAIMunicipal
Tender cum e-Auction Equipment : 1) Procurement of equipment for Social
TPS. 8) Requirement of various size and type of conveyor belt carrying, Corporation (BMC) told the
Awareness and action to Neutralize Childhood Pneumonia Successfully
Impact, return roller and frame for CHP STPS. 9) Supply of spares for var- BombayHighCourtonFridaythat
(SAANS) 2) Fabrication of 26 nos of Delivery Vans into Medicine cum Vaccine
ious AC Plant system and package AC Units of Unit No. 3&4 at Sikka TPS. actorKanganaRanaut’sclaimsfor
transport Vehicles in AP 3) Request for identification of vendors for printing
and supply of IEC material for NHM program 4) Supply, Installation, Testing, Rs 2 crore compensation for the
10) Supply of STROMAG AG make Auxiliary gear limit switch for Wagon
commissioning and maintenance of MRI &CT Scan to Government Hospitals partial demolition of her Pali Hill
tippler 3&4 of Coal Plant at STPS.
in A.P in Hub & Spoke model 5) Supply, Installation, Testing, commissioning propertywere“baseless”and“bo-
Tender documents available on GSECL Website E&P Dept. GoG: gus”. The civic body, which sub-
and maintenance of MRI &CT Scan to Government Hospitals in A.P in Hub &
http://gujepd.gov.in (for view, download and submission in hard). Spoke model 6) Translate the material in Telugu and supply of tool kits mitted its additional affidavit in
Party has to submit tender in online also on web site for EAT Right initiative under HWC.Drugs:T.N.No.78/APMSIDC/Medicine responsetoanamendedpleafiled
www.nprocure.com. Vendor, Manufacturers, Contractors are requested Wing/2020-21, Dt.18.09.2020 1) Procurement and Supply of General by the actor on September 15, re-
to locate the same from above web site. Please be in touch with our Medicines to all Districts of A.P The other details can be seen at the iterated that Ranaut had undis-
above site for any future Amendment / Corrigendum. website http://msidc.ap.nic.in. Sd/- MANAGING DIRECTOR putedly carried out “substantial
unlawful additions and alter-
Chief Engineer (G), STPS DIPR No. 328PP/CL/ADVT/1/1/2020-21 Dt: 18.09.2020 ations”,contrarytothesanctioned
plan without obtaining proper
GOVT. OF ODISHA permission for the same.
OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDING ENGINEER NORTH EASTERN RURAL WORKS CIRCLE, KEONJHAR
"e" Procurement Notice for Road Works In her amended plea filed be-
O-361
Identification No.- Road Online NCB No. 276 fore the high court, Ranaut had
No. 1656 // Date: 10.09.2020
sought Rs 2 crore as damages for
1. Name of the work : Improvement of Road Works under RIDF & Inter District Inter Block Connectivity
2. Total No. Of work : 05 (Five) Nos. the “illegal demolition” of her
3.
4.
Estimated Cost
Class of Contractor
:
:
As per Annexure.
As per Annexure.
Bandra office by the BMC last
5. Period of Completion : As per Annexure. week. Thepleafurthersaidwhile
6. Other details :
the BMC, in its stop-work notice,
Procurement Officer Bid Availability of tender Online for bidding Last Date & Time of seeking Date & Time of Opening of Tender in O/O
Identification No. Tender Clarification S.E.N.E.R.W. Circle, Keonjhar had listed 14 illegal alteration
From To Technical Bid Financial Bid
works being carried out on the
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Superintending Engineer, North Eastern Rural Works Circle, Keonjhar Road Online NCB. No.276 Dt.21.09.20 at 11.00 A.M. Dt.05.10.20 upto 3.00 P.M. Dt.04.10.20 upto 3.00 P.M. Dt.06.10.20 at 11.00 A.M. Will be intimated later premises, only one photograph

Further details can be seen from the website www.tendersorissa.gov.in was submitted before the court
Sd/- that showed a person trying to
Superintending Engineer, N.E.R.W. Circle, Keonjhar
. OIPR-25048/11/0003/2021 prevent leakage from the inces-
sant rain.
Ahmedabad

11 IN PARLIAMENT
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2020
House Diaries
THEPANDEMICEFFECT
■ After Opposition members
created ruckus over the statements
of MoS, Finance, Anurag Thakur
targeting the Gandhi family during
the introduction of a Bill, Speaker
Om Birla gave some of them a
dressing down. Angry at how some
of the members were standing and
speaking out of turn and some even
leaving their seats, Birla threatened
that he would throw them out of the
House. “ I will not allow anyone,
irrespective of whether you are from
treasury or opposition or a minister,
if you stand up and shout I will take
your name and push you out of the
House. My priority is to keep
everyone safe (from Covid). If you
start talking without a mask, the
entire nation will watch. The nation
follows us. The nation’s safety is in
our hands. We represent the people
of this country,” Birla said.
■ At the end of the first week of the
Parliament session amid the
pandemic, Vice-President
M Venkaiah Naidu once again
reminded Rajya Sabha members of
certain precautions to be taken in
the House. He asked them not to
come to the table of the House, and
also avoid coming to the Chairman’s
Chamber. He said he doesn’t have
any problem with it, but Health
Department officials have asked him
to not allow it as the rooms have
little air circulation. He encouraged
the members to write to him and to
other officials to communicate and
clarify doubts. He also asked the
members to not go to the seat of any
other member, as talking while
sitting next to each other could
increase the risk of infection. He
urged them to share slips instead,
and joked, “Slips in an examination
hall are not allowed, but here
slips are allowed.”
NO QUESTION HOUR:
MY QUESTIONS
■ Does the govt plan
to release a national
database of civilian
deaths in police
custody?
■ What are the steps
taken or planned to
decrease police
brutality and mistrust
of the police among
civilians?
RITESH PANDEY, BSP
CPI leader raises in
RS concern over
corporatisation of
ordnance factories
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 18
CPI LEADER Binoy Viswam on Friday ex-
pressedconcernovertheprivatisationof ord-
nancefactories,callingitaveryseriousissue.
Raising the matter with the Chair’s per-
missioninRajyaSabha,Viswamsaidthatthe
country has more than 41 ordnance facto-
ries and nine Defence
Public Sector
Undertakings. “The
history says that they
are almost 200 years
old. Their turnover, in
2018-19, was Rs
45,776 crore. Now,
the government is on
a move to corporatise
them. The country, the Binoy Viswam
people, and the work-
ers believe that this
may go, and this will go, against the
interests of the nation,” he said.
Viswam said the ordnance factories “are
not only making arms and ammunition, but
duringtheCovid-19pandemictime,theyare
makingmasksandrepairingventilatorstoo”
and said that they “are helping the people”.
Last week, the government established
an empowered group of ministers to look
into the roadmap for corporatisation of ord-
nance factories, to iron out any issues, and to
decide if it should be divided into more than
one entity.
PM CARES: Cong forces MoS Thakur apology after
his remarks on Nehru, Gandhi family charities
DEEPTIMAN TIWARY
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 18
THE Lok Sabha wasonFridayadjournedfour
times amid ruckus over remarks made by
Minister of State, Finance, Anurag Thakur on
the Gandhi family and the charitable trusts
run by them.
During a discussion following the intro-
duction of a Bill dealing with certain relax-
ations given to the PM CARES Fund, Thakur
said that the Prime Minister’s National Relief
Fund (PMNRF) was established in 1948 by
JawaharlalNehrutobenefitonefamily.Healso
said that the Gandhi family had cheated the
nationbyestablishingvariouscharitabletrusts
which were used for “personal benefit”.
The House could finally resume only in
the evening, after Speaker Om Birla sug-
gested that Thakur address the members. In
a statement, Thakur said, “I did not intend to
hurt anyone. I am pained if my words hurt
anybody.”
The war of words began soon after
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman intro-
duced the Taxation and Other Laws,
PARTY MATTERS
UnionMinisterDharmendraPradhanwithBJPMPs JPNadda,JyotiradityaScindiaand BhupenderYadav atParliamentFriday. PTI
House panel pulls up govt, BSNL for
‘casual’ approach on promotion quota
ESHA ROY
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 18
THEPARLIAMENTARYCommitteeonWelfare
of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes,
whichischairedbyBJPMPDrKiritPremjibhai
Solanki, has pulled up the Department of
Telecommunications under the Ministry of
Communications and the Bharat Sanchar
Nigam Limited (BSNL) for their “casual ap-
proach” on the reservation in promotions for
SC/ST employees.
The committee’s report, titled “Ways and
Means to ensure reservation for SCs and STs
in the light of privatisation, outsourcing of
work and contractual employment in
GovernmentServices,PSUsandAutonomous
Bodies with special reference to Bharat
Sanchar Nigam Limited”, was tabled in Lok
SabhaonFriday.Thereportobservedthatthe
promotionsof SC/STemployeesinBSNLhave
been on hold despite a 2018 Supreme Court
orderallowingtheUniongovernmenttopro-
vide reservation in promotions to SC/ST em-
ployees “in accordance with law’’.
The BSNL, in its reply to the committee,
citedongoingcasesinhighcourtsandsaidthe
matter was sub-judice and may invite con-
tempt of court.
RS passes Bills for councils of homoeopathy, Indian medicine
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 18
RAJYA SABHA on Friday passed two Bills to
replace ordinances related to a Central
Council of Homoeopathy and Indian
MedicineCentralCouncil,evenasOpposition
parties accused the government of using the
ordinance route when it was not necessary.
The government assured the House that
it wascommitted to providingeasyaccessto
healthcare to all, and said it would promote
Indian medicine systems.
The Homoeopathy Central Council
(Amendment) Bill, 2020 will extend the
tenure of the council by two years — its two-
year tenure is over. The Indian Medicine
Central Council (Amendment) Bill, 2020
Relaxation of Certain Provisions Bill, 2020.
The Congress and Trinamool Congress ob-
jected, saying the Bill sought to bring the PM
CARESFundunderthesamelawsthatgovern
the PMNRF.
Tothis,Thakursaid,“In1948,thethenPM
Jawaharlal Nehru ordered establishment of
the PM’s National Relief Fund but it hasn’t
been registered yet. How did it get FCRA
(Foreign Contribution Regulation Act) regis-
tration? How did you give it tax exemption
when even the Trust is not registered? You
made that Trust for just one family, the
Gandhi family. This fund (PM CARES) is for
the138crorepeopleof thiscountry.ThePM-
NRF had Sonia Gandhi and Nehru as its
members. This should be discussed in detail.
The nation must see your real face.”
The Congress immediately protested,
raising slogans and demanding an apology
from Thakur for his charges against Nehru
and Sonia. Leader of the party in the House
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury retorted that the
PMCARESFundhadreceiveddonationsfrom
Chinese companies such as TikTok. The
Trinamool Congress joined in after the
Treasury benches made some remarks
BJP MP Dr Kirit Premjibhai Solanki
chairs the Parliamentary Committee
on Welfare of SCs and STs
One of the largest PSUs in the country,
BSNL has a workforce of 1,53,823 employees
—44,983inexecutivecategoryand1,08,839in
non-executivecategory.Thepercentageof SC
employees in executive category is 17.86 per
centandinthenon-executivecategoryis18.73
per cent. The percentage of ST employees in
the executive category is 6.01 per cent and in
thenon-executivecategory,itis5.35percent.
In view of the ongoing restructuring of
BSNL, there is a likelihood of substantial
changesinman-powercompositionatdiffer-
seeksayear’stimetoreconstitutethecentral
council, and provides for a board of directors
in the interim for Indian medicine systems
including ayurveda, yoga and naturopathy.
LeadingtheattackfortheCongress,Ripun
Boraaccusedthegovernmentof delayincon-
stituting the homoeopathy council. He said
that when the board of governors was con-
stituted in 2018, “it was decided that the
council was required to be reconstituted
within one year from the date of superces-
sion” but it has not been done yet. “Is this
modern India where the government has
been taking three years to constitute a sim-
pleHomoeopathyCentralCouncil?”heasked.
He said the government wanted to run
the board of governors with its own ap-
pointees and “it is a very bad signfor democ-
racy” as the government “is in the habit
Monsoon Session
Thakur in Lok Sabha. ANI
linked to West Bengal.
Given the commotion, the House was
first adjourned around 3.50 pm for half-an-
hour, then till 5 pm after sitting for about 10
minutes in between. As it sat at 5 pm, there
were protests again and the House was ad-
journedimmediatelytill5.30pm,andsubse-
quently till 6 pm.
Earlier, asking why Nehru’s and Sonia’s
names were being dragged in, Chowdhury
said, “Is this an (Bill) introduction debate?...
Look at our speech. Is there anything unpar-
ent levels, with the PSU having given the op-
tion of VRS to its employees. The BSNL has
cited this is as another reason for the halt on
promotions.
The committee observed that though the
SCrepresentationinexecutiveandnon-exec-
utivepostsisadequate,theSTrepresentation
in executive and non-executive grade is be-
low the required level of 7.5 per cent.
“The Committee strongly recommends
that the management of BSNL should main-
tainstrictlytheprescribedpercentageofreser-
vationforSCs/STsinallexecutiveandnon-ex-
ecutive posts. The Committee re-emphasize
the fact that it is mandatory to maintain per-
centage of reservation for STs to ensure more
opportunity for the STs,’’ says the report.
Due to a stay order by Central Admi-
nistrative Tribunal, the Department of
Telecommunications has not issued promo-
tion orders of 124 SC/ST officials since 2018.
“TheCommitteealsofeelthattheMinistry
ofCommunications(DepartmentofTelecom-
munications)andBSNLshouldhaveconsulted
Ministry of Law and Justice (Department of
LegalAffairs)atthetimeofdisposalandaddress
these issue in the right direction. The Com-
mitteestronglydeplorethecasualapproachof
the Ministry in this regard,’’ the committee
stated.
Health Minister Harsh Vardhan. PTI
of encroaching upon the autonomy of
institutions”.
TMC’s Santanu Sen said, “This govern-
liamentaryinthat?NirmalaSitharamanalso
spokenicely...TheyaredisrespectingNehruji.
What kind of things are they saying taking
Sonia Gandhi’s name?”
Noting that PM CARES Fund had ac-
cepted donations from Chinese companies,
the Congress leader said, “How did TikTok
pay Rs 500 crore? How did, one after an-
other, Chinese firms donate? This should be
investigated… ”
GauravGogoi,recentlyappointeddeputy
leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, said,
“Wehaven’tcomeheretobesubjectedtoun-
parliamentary language… The minister
must apologise.”
Justifying his remarks, Thakur countered,
“Thenamesof theentireNehru-Gandhifam-
ily should be taken. By fooling the nation you
havegainedpersonalbenefits,erectingdiffer-
entcharitabletrusts.Wewillexposethis.The
Gandhi family has played with the country.”
After some remarks from the Treasury
benches targeting the Trinamool, party MP
KalyanBanerjeeaccusedtheSpeakerof shut-
ting up Opposition members but allowing
BJP members to say whatever they wanted.
Birla said this was unfair and he always
Oppn backs Bills for
salary cuts of MPs,
ministers; demands
restoration of MPLADS
KRISHN KAUSHIK
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 18
WITH RAJYA Sabha’s unanimous nod, the
Bills to slash salaries of MPs and Union Min-
isters were passed by Parliament on Friday.
The two Bills, discussed together, were
notopposedtobyanyparty,butnearlyevery
leader from opposition parties objected to
stopping funds under the Members of
ParliamentLocalAreaDevelopmentScheme
(MPLADS). They said MPLADS is not meant
for personal use by MPs, but is for the peo-
ple, and demanded that it be restored.
The House passed Salaries and Allowa-
ncesofMinisters(Amendment)Bill,2020and
Salary, Allowances and Pension of MPs (Am-
endment) Bill, 2020 together by a voice vote.
TheBillsallowa30-percentsalarycutfor
MPs and Union ministers to help the battle
against Covid-19.
Several Opposition leaders also took the
opportunity to take on the government for
going ahead with the Central Vista redevel-
opment project to build a new Parliament
and other ministry buildings, which is likely
to cost more than Rs 20,000 crore, at a time
when it is mulling ways to reduce expense.
Stating that the Congress will support
even a Bill that asks MPs to work for Re 1 for
a year or two, party MP Rajeev Satav slam-
med the government for its handling of the
economy. He said the GDP was growing at
7.41percentin2014,but“youworkedfor16-
18 hours a day and brought it to minus 23.9
percent(India’sGDPgrowthcontracted23.9
per cent in April-June quarter). Thankfully
you did not work 24 hours a day; otherwise
GDPwouldhavereachedminus50percent.”
Accusing the government of not taking
the states along before announcing the na-
tionwidelockdown,Satavsaid,“Youhadsaid
the war against virus will be won in 21 days.
You could not make the country corona-free
in 21 days, but the country has become em-
ployment-free. The PM CARES Fund...who is
thefund takingcareof?Theentirecountryis
unable to understand that.”
When the government is talking about
cutting down expenses, he asked, “why is
spending Rs 20,000 crore still part of your
agenda” for the Central Vista project.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad
Joshi defended the government’s handling
of the pandemic and, responding to some of
the charges brought by Satav, said the peo-
plehadgiventheNDAa“resoundingvictory”
in 2019 elections, when the Congress tried
toraisethesameissues.Healsosaid,“Onone
hand we say government spending should
ment is in a mood to ruin all the ancient sys-
tems of medicine and promote quackery.”
Hesaidlaterthat“theyareindirectlypro-
moting quackery” and “saying that those
who have experience of practising homeop-
athy for five years would get registered, thus
indirectly they are promoting private med-
ical colleges”.
RJD’s Manoj Kumar Jha sought a review
by the Ministry of AYUSH. Calling the gov-
ernment an “ordinance factory”, he said,
“There is no mention of the exigency, imme-
diacy, they only want an ordinance,
Parliament is in recess, want an ordinance.”
BJD’s Prasanna Acharya also questioned
the need for an ordinance. Members of SP,
DMK, YSR Congress and JD(U) also spoke on
the topic.
Responding to the debate, Union Health
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
gave everyone an opportunity to speak. He
also threatened that if members continued
to create ruckus and stood up to speak with-
out being allowed to, he would throw them
out of the House as it was interfering with
Covid safety protocols.
Returning to the House only in the
evening, the Speaker said he never meant to
hurt anyone. Noting that Parliament was
meeting under extraordinary conditions
and the country’s eyes were on it, he ap-
pealed to the MPs to maintain the dignity of
the House. “Baseless allegations and
counter-allegations should be avoided… All
of you are equal to me. Whatever I have done
is just to keep the House in order,” he said, as
the MPs applauded.
Congress MPs Shashi Tharoor and
Manish Tewari were among those who op-
posed the introduction of the Bill earlier.
Tharoor said, “The Bill seeks to amend the
CGST Act, which will allow the government
extension of time for actions under the Act
ineventssuchasapandemicwithretrospec-
tive effect. This will permit the government
to retrospectively validate its failure and de-
lay disbursal to states.”
QUOTE UNQUOTE
‘We say govt
spending
should
increase, we
are (also)
saying bullet
train, Central Vista should be
stopped. What is this?’
PRALHAD JOSHI, UNION MINISTER
‘Thankfully
you (govt) did
not work 24
hours a day;
otherwise
GDP would
have reached minus 50 %.’
RAJEEV SATAV, CONGRESS
‘We are not
taking it
(MPLADS
fund) home;
we were
spending it on
our constituencies.’
PRASANNA ACHARYA, BJD
increase, yet we are (also) saying bullet train,
Central Vista (projects) should be stopped.
What is this?”
BJD’s Prasanna Acharya said cutting
salaries is “not about money (but) is about
sending a message to the people”. On
MPLADS,hesaid,“Wearenottakingithome;
we were spending it on our constituencies.”
He mentioned that even last year’s MPLADS
funds have not been released.
Samajwadi Party leader Vishambhar
Prasad Nishad said MPs could have used the
MPLADS fund for fighting Covid-19 in their
constituencies. DMK’s P Wilson called it a
“glaring breach of cooperative federalism”.
K Somaprasad of CPI(M) said that GDP is
“falling”sincelastyear,and“socialimpact”of
job losses is “beyond our imaginations”.
Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad
said that all parties support salary cuts, as
that money is used by MPs for personal use.
“But MPLADS is not our money. That is the
money of the poor,” he said.
MinisterHarshVardhansaidthegovernment
has“neithertheaimnortheintention”toen-
croach on the autonomy of any institution.
“Governmentcangivepolicyguidance,butit
isnotinvolvedinday-to-dayfunctioning,nor
does it want to,” he said.
The minister said the government has a
“transparent and clear intention to bring
these Bills”, and is trying to bring “useful re-
forms in medical education and modern
systems”.
The government, he said, “is committed
to provide top quality healthcare in all sys-
tems” including Indian medicines. He said
hewas“pained”thatonememberhadcalled
some Indian medicine systems “quackery”.
Defending the ordinance route, he said
that governments in the past had resorted to
it and this was nothing unusual.
Ahmedabad
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

12 EXPRESS NETWORK
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2020

Left parties DELHI AWAITS BEIJING WORD ON COMMANDER TALKS Madras HC

UP Police adds
Military talks date awaited,
declines to take
await RJD
response on
contempt action
against Tamil sedition to case
alliance
DECISION
2020
China Study Group meets actor Suriya
ARUN JANARDHANAN
CHENNAI, SEPTEMBER 18

INVOKING THE right to free

BIHAR
SANTOSH SINGH
PATNA, SEPTEMBER 18
LEFT PARTIES including the CPI,
CPI(ML) and CPI(M) want the
RJD to move ahead with alliance
talks in the run-up to Bihar polls.
The RJD has received a list of
probable seats from them, but is
yet to respond.
CPI(ML) general secretary
Dipanker Bhattacharya told re-
porters on Friday: "The people
want to see a broad and united
OppositiontotakeontheNDAin
Bihar. But it is unfortunate that
there has been no progress to-
wards forging the alliance... The
KRISHN KAUSHIK &
DEEPTIMAN TIWARY
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 18
THE CHINA Study Group (CSG)
met in New Delhi on Friday to
discuss the contours of the next
round of Corps Commander-
level talks following an agree-
ment reached between Indian
andChineseForeignMinistersin
Moscow to dial down tensions
along the Line of Actual Control
in Ladakh.
The nearly 90-minute meet-
ing of the CSG, the apex advisory
body on relations with Beijing,
was attended, among others, by
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh,
External Affairs Minister S
JaishankarandNationalSecurity
Advisor Ajit Doval.
speech, the Madras High Court
Friday refused to initiate con-
tempt proceedings against actor
Suriya for his criticism of the ju-
diciary over the NEET issue, but
suggested that his comments
could have been made in a more
moderatetone
and informed
him of the
work done by
courts during
the pandemic.
In the
wake of sui-
cides by three Suriya
medical aspi-
rants on the
daybeforethemedicalentrance,
Suriya had said last Saturday:
An Indian Air Foce Su-30MKI jet flies over Ladakh. PTI “Courts are delivering justice
throughvideo-conferencingdue
against AAP MP
Sanjay Singh
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
LUCKNOW, SEPTEMBER 18
NEARLY TWO weeks after AAP
leader Sanjay Singh was booked
for promoting enmity, UP Police
has invoked sedition charge
againsttheRajyaSabhamember.
A senior police officer said
that IPC section 124-A (sedition) Sanjay Singh
has been added to the FIR that
was filed at Hazratganj police
stationonSeptember2.Thiswas sedition because I raised my
confirmed by Hazratganj SHO voice against the rampant cor-
Anajani Kumar Pandey. ruption in purchase of Covid-19
“On September 1, a mobile kits in the times of a pandemic...
number was being shared I know I will be sent to jail soon
widely on social media. Upon because I exposed the Yogi gov-
furtherinquiry,itwasfoundthat ernment,” Singh said.
pre-recorded calls were being Healsosaidthat37members

E
Lok Sabha election results Sources said a date for the tothefearof thelife-threatening made from a particular number of Parliament from 12 different
showed that Opposition unity next Corps Commander-level State Councillor Wang Yi in as they can dominate the 2-km coronavirus, (but) are ordering to people where things that political parties have stood in
EXPLAINED

could not be possible without
taking into confidence the three
Left parties.”
He added that the RJD's ap-
proach and "proposal" has not
gone well with CPI(ML) rank
and file, and "it is time RJD took
up the alliance proposal seri-
ously”.
CPI(ML)statesecretaryKunal
told The Indian Express: "We
have submitted our list of prob-
able seats. We had three rounds
of meetings. But there is no re-
sponse from the RJD.”
CPI state secretary
Ramnaresh Pandey told The
Indian Express: “We told the
RJD how we supported the Lalu
Prasad government in 1990.
We also reminded them about
the CPI winning 26 seats in
1995 Assembly polls. We have
given our list to the RJD and our
talks are satisfactory so far.”
Sources said the CPI(ML), CPI
and CPI(M) have given the RJD a
listof 53, 17 and 16 seats, respec-
tively. RJD sources, however, in-
dicated that the party might not
concede more than 15-17 seats
to Left parties as it wants to con-
test 145-odd seats.
In 2019 Lok Sabha polls,
CPI(ML) had a tactical alliance
with the RJD on two seats. CPI
had failed to forge an alliance
with the RJD as it was not will-
ing to give up Begusarai, where
it had fielded former JNUSU
president Kanhaiya Kumar.
BJP's Giriraj Singh had won
Begusarai.
BRIEFLY
JAMMU & KASHMIR
Pakshellsareas
alongLoCfor
secondday
Jammu: The Pakistan
Armycontinuedviolating
the ceasefire for the sec-
ond consecutive day on
Friday by resorting to
heavy firing and mortar
shelling in forward areas
along the Line of Control
(LoC) in Jammu and
Kashmir's Poonch dis-
trict, officials said.
The Indian Army retali-
ated befittingly to the
Pakistani aggression,
they added. Pakistan
troops have violated
the ceasefire agreement
31 times so far this
month. PTI
MADHYA PRADESH
Womankills
newborngirlas
kinwantedboy
Bhopal: A 22-year-old
woman was arrested on
Fridayforallegedlykilling
her one-month-old girl
by drowning her in a
water tank in her house
as she, her husband and
her in-laws wanted a
male child, police said.
Sarita Mewada, her
husband Sachin and her
in-laws, residents of
Deharia village, wanted a
boy and this was making
the woman upset and
she had started taking a
dislike for the newborn,
said Khajuri Sadak police
station in charge L D
Mishra. PTI
meeting is still to be fixed. "It has
to be decided mutually in con-
sultation with China. As yet, a
mutually agreeable date has not
been arrived at," a senior secu-
rity establishment officer said.
Another official said the CSG
has spelt out the agenda for the
talks as and when they take
place. "The immediate concern
at the moment is the friction
points, particularly those that
have a situation of face-off or
eyeball-to-eyeballconfrontation.
The thrust of the talks is going to
be on disengagement on these
points. Once developments are
achieved on these, larger things
will be talked about," the official
said.
This was the first meeting of
theCSGsinceJaishankarreached
a five-point agreement with
China’s Foreign Minister and
Do not block movement, supply
of oxygen, MHA tells states
DEEPTIMAN TIWARY
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 18
AFTERTHEissueofpooravailabil-
ityandblackmarketingofoxygen
in some states was raised in
Parliament,theMinistryofHome
Affairs(MHA)haswrittentostates
nottoblockmovementorsupply
ofoxygenasitisessentialtofight-
ing the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a letter to chief secretaries
of allstates,HomeSecretaryAjay
Bhalla has said that some states
arecurbingthesupplyof oxygen
byissuingordersunderEssential
Commodities Act or Epidemic
Diseases Act.
“It has come to the notice
that some States are trying to
curb the inter-State movement
of oxygen supplies from manu-
facturing units situated in their
respective States by exercising
provisions under The Epidemic
Disease Act 1897, The Disaster
Management Act, 2005, The
Essential Commodities Act or
any State / UT specific Essential
Services Act, The Indian Penal
RAJASTHAN
Cong leader who tested
Covid positive held for
violating quarantine
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
JAIPUR, SEPTEMBER 18
A CONGRESS leader who tested
positive for a Covid-19 infection
earlierthisweekwasarrestedon
Thursday for protesting outside
a police station in Baran district
in violation of the quarantine
protocol and allegedly manhan-
dling a truck driver.
Policeidentifiedtheleaderas
Naresh Meena. The incident re-
portedly took place in Kawai po-
lice station limits. In a video
shared from his Facebook page
on Thursday and streamed by
one Harish Banti, some men in a
car are seen following a truck al-
legedly carrying illegally mined
gravel.Gravelminingiscurrently
banned in Rajasthan.
The men then intercept the
truckandescortittoKawaipolice
station. As police station person-
nel allegedly did not take action,
Meenareachedthepolicestation
Fingers
crossed on
● Moscow pact
WITH THE LAC standoff
in its fifth month, and the
tension between Indian
and China continuing, a
lot is riding on the agree-
ment reached between
the two foreign ministers
in Moscow. After their
meeting, a joint state-
ment said the two minis-
ters agreed to “quickly
disengage”. As India gets
ready for the next round
of military talks, it awaits
word from Beijing. It has
been a week since the
Moscow agreement.
Code of 1860 (or any other such
related Acts) and also mandat-
ing the manufacturers/ suppli-
ers located in the state to restrict
theiroxygensupplies tothehos-
pitals of the State,” Bhalla wrote.
He said medical oxygen is an
essentialpublichealthcommodity
and any impediment in its sup-
plies may critically impact the
managementofCovid-19patients.
The letter requested the
states to ensure:
■No such restriction is imposed
onmovementof medicaloxygen
betweenstatesandtransportau-
thoritiesshallbeinstructedtoal-
low free inter-state movement
of oxygen-carrying vehicles.
■ No restrictions shall be im-
posed on oxygen manufacturers
and suppliers to limit oxygen
supplies only to hospitals of the
state in which they are located.
■ There shall be free movement
of oxygen-carrying vehicles into
cities, without any restriction of
timings,whilealsoenablinginter-
city supply without restriction.
“As you are aware, availabil-
According to police,
Naresh Meena held a
demonstration outside
a police station and
assaulted a truck driver
and manhandled the driver and
one other person with him, offi-
cialssaid.Inthevideo,themenare
thenseenindulginginsloganeer-
ingagainstlocalpoliceandBhaya.
Kawai SHO Rajpal Singh said
Meena“isCovidpositiveandnot
only he did he leave quarantine,
but also flouted government
guidelines and held a demon-
stration outside the police sta-
tion along with some others.”
He said that Meena was
booked under relevant sections
of the IPC and the Epidemic
Diseases Act, and was sent to a
Covid Centre, while “around 8-
10 others who were with him
were also arrested.”
Moscow on September 10. The
joint statement after the meet-
ing had mentioned that both
ministers “agreed that the cur-
rentsituationintheborderareas
is not in the interest of either
side” and that the militaries
“should continue their dialogue,
quickly disengage, maintain
proper distance and ease
tensions”.
Tensions have heightened
since August-end, when Indian
troops occupied key heights
along the LAC. The Indian Army
said it had “pre-empted” moves
by Chinese troops and had ac-
cordingly taken action.
The new positions on the
south bank of Pangong Tso and
in the Chushul sub-sector on
Gurung Hill, Magar Hill and near
Rezang La and Rechin La have
givenIndiaa strategicadvantage
ity of adequate and uninter-
ruptedsupplyof MedicalOxygen
is an important pre-requisite for
managing moderate & severe
casesof COVlD-19.Withincreas-
ing number of active cases of
COVlD-19, the consumption of
oxygen is also expected to in-
crease,” Bhalla said in the letter.
He also reminded states the
Unlock4guidelinesmadeitclear
that there would be no restric-
tions on inter-state and intra-
state movement of people and
goods anywhere in the country.
“It is also requested that all
States and Union Territories may
constitute multi-disciplinary
teams, comprising representa-
tivesofthehealth,industry,trans-
port and other related Depart-
ments, to continuously monitor
theavailabilityofmedicaloxygen
in their respective jurisdictions.
Any shortfalls/related problems
that are encountered in this re-
gard, should be immediately
brought to the notice of the
CentralControlRoomestablished
in the Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare,” the letter said.
1.3 BN PEOPLE DIRECTLY DEPEND ON HIMALAYAN HINDU KUSH ECOSYSTEM
Glacier retreat in Himalayas to cause water crisis: study
ESHA ROY
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 18
A STUDY commissioned by the
Observer Research Foundation,
publishedthis month, hasfound
that the retreat of glaciers in the
Himalayan Hindu Kush region is
now affecting the surface water
and groundwater availability in
the region, and has adversely af-
fected springs – a lifeline for the
population in hill areas.
The study, carried out by Dr
Anjal Prakash, IPCC author and
Research Director of Bharti
Institute of Public Policy at the
Indian School of Business in
Hyderabad, says that unless a co-
herentnationwidepolicyisdevel-
oped for springs and Himalayan
groundwater, villages and towns
intheregionwillfaceaseverewa-
ter crisis in coming decades.
Studies by ISRO show that
approximately75percentof the
Himalayan glaciers are retreat-
ing at an alarming rate.
“These retreats will increase
wide Spanggur Gap and look
into China’s Moldo Garrison.
Following the action on the
south bank, Indian troops had
readjustedtheirpositionsonthe
north bank of the lake as well,
and now occupy heights domi-
nating China’s positions on
Finger 4. Since then, Chinese
troops have made multiple at-
tempts to dislodge Indian troops
from these new positions.
There have been incidents of
firing, a first in 45 years, on
Pangong Tso’s north and south
banks,inoneof whichbothsides
fired 100 to 200 warning shots
in the air. Troops from both sides
are barely 300 metres apart at
severalspotsintheChushulsub-
sector, and barely 500 metres
away from each other on the
ridgeline connecting Finger 4
and Finger 3 on the north bank.
TRACKING INDIA’S COVID CURVE
200 CASES:
DAYS SINCE
PANDEMIC
RECOVERED: 41,12,551
52,14,677 DEATHS: 84,372
BEGAN TESTS: 6,15,72,434 | DOUBLING RATE: 37.36**
KEYSTATES TOTAL
TOWATCH CASES
■ Maharashtra 11,45,840
■ Andhra 6,01,462
■ Tamil Nadu 5,25,420
■ Uttar Pradesh 3,36,294
■ Delhi 2,34,701
* Compounded Daily Growth Rate over last 7 days
CASE FATALITY RATIO POSITIVITY RATE
7 DAYS EARLIER: 7 DAYS EARLIER:
1.67
NOW:
1.62
Deaths as a ratio of Positives against
positive cases (in %); number tested
indicator of progress (in %); indicator of
in averting deaths the spread of disease
DataasonSeptember17,releasedbyUnionMinistryofHealth,ICMRandstates.Oftendailynumbers
includedatafrompreviousdays.Assuch,trendsbasedondailynumbersareindicative,notdefinitive
the variability of water flows to
downstream areas and endan-
ger the sustainability of water
use in the earth’s most crowded
basins. Receding glaciers would
also have an impact on the rates
of groundwater recharge in
some areas,” says the study. The
decline in groundwater due to
anticipated decline of glacial
meltwater is likely to affect the
Ganges basin the most, it says.
“Glacial decline is closely re-
lated to climate change. The
study looks at the interconnec-
tivity between this and the
groundwater and surface water
in the area. There are 5 million
springs in the Himalayas and
they are showing a decline be-
causeof overusebyanincreasing
population, but also because of
retreatingglaciersanddepleting
ground water levels. This is
alarming because the popula-
tions that live in the upper and
middleHimalayas,invillagesand
even towns, are dependent on
spring water. NITI Aayog has set
upacommitteetolookatsprings
students to fearlessly go and
write the exams.”
Taking umbrage over this,
MadrasHighCourtjudge,Justice
S M Subramaniam, wrote to
Chief Justice A P Sahi seeking
contempt proceedings against
the Tamil star.
On Friday, the bench of Chief
Justice Sahi and Justice
Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy
said it entirely agreed with
Advocate-GeneralVijayNarayan,
who declined to give his go-
ahead for criminal contempt of
court proceedings.
Presenting the act of calling
a spade a spade and that of mak-
ing unrestrained speech as two
different dimensions, the bench
said: “The right to freedom of
speech that includes fair criti-
cism is guaranteed under the
Indian Constitution.”
SURGEIN 7-DAYAVG DOUBLING
24HOURS GROWTH* TIME**
24,619 2.10% 34.31
8,702 1.61% 44.61
5,560 1.12% 64.35
6,029 2.04% 35.35
4,432 1.92% 37.55
** Calculated over 7-day growth
DAILY IN, DAILY OUT
DETECTED TODAY
8.43 96,424
NOW: RECOVERED TODAY:
8.47 87,472
Becoming sick vs
recovering; more
recoveries for 14 days
may signal the peak
TheHimalayanHinduKushregionhasthebiggestreservesof
waterintheformof iceandsnowoutsidethepolarregions. File
intheHimalayas.Butthereneeds
to be a mission mode policy on
this,” said Dr Prakash.
“In many parts of HKH
springsaredryingupdue topro-
longedpre-monsoondroughtas
a result of climate change,
threateningthewayof lifeforlo-
cal communities and down-
stream areas,” said Dr Vishal
Singh, Executive Director of
would divide the communities
were being said. An Interactive
VoiceResponse(IVR)systemwas
enabled on this number. This
deed of the unidentified person
would divide communities and
would affect the harmony in so-
ciety,” read the police complaint
basedonwhichtheFIRwasfiled.
Singh,who wasinNewDelhi
on Friday, said he will visit
Lucknow on September 20 and
surrender himself to the police.
“TheYogiAdityanathgovern-
ment has filed a sedition case
against me because I spoke
abouttheviolenceandatrocities
being committed against
Brahmins and Dalits in UP. The
Yogi government booked me for
Elvis Gomes quits as AAP
Goa convenor, says will
work at grassroots level
SMITA NAIR
PANAJI, SEPTEMBER 18
AAP GOA convenor Elvis Gomes
steppeddownfromhispartypost
Friday, saying that he would hit
the ground “more aggressively”.
His decision — which was in-
formed to the party’s state exec-
utive committee on Thursday --
-comesdaysafterAAP'sGoaunit
general secretary Pradeep
Padgaonkar resigned.
Gomessaidhewastiredofad-
ministrativedecisionsandrelying
onlyonmediacoverage,sohehad
picked a few constituencies
wherehewouldspendweeksand
months, expanding the party’s
reachandengagement.“Let’sjust
say I am taking the lead in ensur-
ing we go a step ahead, and not
just reach the ears of the people
but also explain and act on what
theAAPmodelactuallyis,”hesaid.
Speaking to The Indian
Express, Gomes said he felt the
decision was “urgent” as the op-
position in Goa is non-existent.
Gomes, a face of AAP in Goa,
said he also plans to use his new
rolein“lookingforpotentialfaces
CentreforEcologyDevelopment
and Research.
The HKH region extends
across3,500kmovereightcoun-
tries—Afghanistan, Bhutan,
Bangladesh, China, India,
Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan. It
has the biggest reserves of water
in the form of ice and snow out-
side the polar regions, and is the
source of 10 of the largest rivers
solidarity with him and have
urged Rajya Sabha Chairman to
order a probe into the issue.
“Congress,TMC,SP,ShivSena,
RJD,TRS,TDP,DMK,AkaliDal,NCP
and other MPs have supported
me. They have written a letter to
the Honourable Chairman of
Rajya Sabha and asked for a thor-
oughprobe.Idemandthatif Iam
really an anti-national, then they
must arrest me. But if I am not,
thenstrictactionshouldbetaken
againstthepeoplewhofiledsuch
cases against me,” Singh added.
A senior police officer said
that besides Singh, three direc-
tors of a private company which
conducted the survey have also
been booked for sedition.
Elvis Gomes
whoarereadytotakeaplungein
active politics, take a stand”.
While an official announce-
ment is yet to be made, Gomes
said that senior leader Rahul
Mahambrey will take his place
as party convenor.
In the past few days, AAP has
been optimistic after the ruling
party was forced to add oxime-
tersandotheressentialsinhome
kits which are being delivered to
the homes of asymptomatic
Covid-19patients.Thishaslargely
been perceived as a response to
AAP’s door-to-door campaign of
checkingoxygenlevelsofGoares-
identsandhelpingthemtakead-
vantage of early detection.
“Frankly, the pandemic ex-
posed the government. Goa
needsgoodgovernanceurgently
as it is a small state and faces the
biggest existential threat,”
Gomes said.
in Asia. About 1.3 billion people
directly depend on the HKH
ecosystems, including for irriga-
tion, power and drinking water.
FortheupperIndusbasin,gla-
ciermeltmaycontributeupto41
percentof thetotalrunoff,13per
centintheupperGangabasinand
16percentinupperBrahmaputra.
While initially the retreating gla-
cierswillnothaveadirectimpact
on water flow in rivers, except in
the Indus where 26 per cent flow
is from glacier melt, this is likely
to change soon, says the study.
Climate warming is affecting
hydrologicalregimesintheHKH
region because of factors like
changes in seasonal extremes,
increased evapotranspiration,
and changes in glacier volume.
However, the study forecasts
that in all three basins, there
wouldbeadecreaseinsnowand
a rise in glacier melt by the mid-
dle of the century. Initially, there
will be an increased amount of
meltwater available, but this
quantity will decline abruptly as
the glacier storage is reduced.
Ahmedabad
 E EXPLAINED
13
CORONAVIRUS DASHBOARD
C VID-19 VACCINE TRACKER
Effectiveness of vaccine to be
known by December: Moderna
US BIOTECHNOLOGY company
Modernahassaiditwouldknowabout
theeffectivenessofitscoronavirusvac-
cine by December. Moderna’s vaccine
candidateisoneof thethreeundergo-
inglarge-scalephase-3clinicaltrialsin
the US, in which 30,000 participants
arebeingenrolled.Theothersarefrom
AstraZeneca-Oxford and Pfizer.
Moderna CEO Stephane
Bancelhassaidif thevaccine
candidatewasfoundtobeat
least 50% effective, the mini-
mum bar set by the US Food
andDrugAdministrationfor
approvingavaccine,itwould
immediately move to apply for an
emergency use authorisation. Bancel
said if everything went well, the com-
pany could deliver about 100 million
dosesofvaccinetotheUSgovernment
in the “first few months of 2021”.
The company also released a 135-
pagenoteon theongoing phase-3 tri-
als. According to that note, which is
dated August 20 but was made pub-
lic only on Thursday, the company
INDIA ACTIVE CASES
1050,000
897,394
950,000
LAST 10 DAYS
Sept 8
850,000
Note: The Sept 17 figure in this graph is based on the government update on Sept 18
INDIA TOTAL CASES
5,214,677
Source:MinistryofHealthandFamily
Welfare,updatedat11pmonSept18
In emergency scans to detect
stroke, diagnosis of Covid-19
NEW RESEARCH has
foundthatCovid-19may
be diagnosed on the
same emergency scans
intended to diagnose
stroke. Published in the
American Journal of
Neuroradiology, the re- PAPER
search showed that the
emergency scans cap-
turedimagesof thetopof
CLIP
the lungs where a fluffi- NEW RESEARCH takes time to complete
ness known as “ground
glass opacification” al-
lowed Covid-19 to be diagnosed. lead author Dr Thomas Booth said in
Researchers from the School of a statement.
Biomedical Engineering & Imaging “These are useful results because
Sciences, King’s College London, ex- thechangesaresimpleforradiologists
amined 225 patients from three and other doctors to see. This is ‘free
London Hyper-Acute Stroke Units. information’ from a scan intended for
The emergency stroke scan consisted another purpose yet extremely valu-
of a CT of the head and neck blood able,” Dr Booth said.
vessels. When the researchers saw
these changes in the top of the lungs
Indus Water Treaty at 60: why there is a need to give it a fresh look
Uttam Kumar Sinha
SEPTEMBER19marksthe60thanniversary
of the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) between
India and Pakistan, a treaty that is often
cited as an example of the possibilities of
peaceful coexistence that exist despite the
troubled relationship. Well-wishers of the
treaty often dub it “uninterrupted and un-
interruptible”. The World Bank, which, as
thethirdparty,playedapivotalroleincraft-
ing the IWT, continues to take particular
pride that the treaty functions.
The role of India, as a responsible upper
riparian abiding by the provisions of the
treaty,hasbeenremarkablebutthecountry,
of late, is under pressure to rethink the ex-
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2020
was expecting to know about the ef-
fectiveness of the vaccine candidate
by December.
Moderna has never made a vac-
cine that has been approved. For the
coronavirus, it is using a genetic ap-
proachthathasneverproducedasuc-
cessfulvaccineforanydisease.Butthe
company enjoys the confidence and
backing of the US govern-
ment which has pumped in
more than a billion dollars
to help it accelerate the vac-
cine development, and pre-
booked hundreds of mil-
lions of doses.
Even if Moderna knows about the
effectiveness of its vaccine by
November, it might be beaten to the
race by Pfizer, which has said it was
hoping to be ready with effectiveness
data by the end of October. Like
Moderna, Pfizer is also carrying out
phase-3 trials of its vaccine in the US.
Pfizer has also said it would apply for
emergencyauthorisationoncetheef-
fectiveness data is available.
1,017,754
1,017,754
Sept 17
WORLD TOTAL CASES
30,255,091
Source:JohnsHopkinsUniversity,
updatedat11pmonSept18
during the emergency
emergency scan, they
were able to reliably and
accurately diagnose
Covid-19 and the
changes also predicted
increased mortality.
“This is particularly
relevant given the limi-
tationsof currentlyavail-
able RT-PCR testing as it
the test and sometimes
it is inaccurate,” study
Source: King’s College London
tent to which it can remain committed to
the provisions, as its overall political rela-
tions with Pakistan becomes intractable.
Equitable water-sharing
Back in time, partitioning the Indus
rivers system was inevitable after the
Partition of India in 1947. The sharing for-
mula devised after prolonged negotiations
slicedtheIndussystemintotwohalves.The
three ‘western rivers’ (Indus, Jhelum and
Chenab) went to Pakistan and the three
‘eastern rivers’ (Sutlej, Ravi and Beas) were
portioned to India. Equitable it may have
seemed, but the fact remained that India
conceded 80.52 per cent of the aggregate
waterflows inthe Indus systemtoPakistan.
It also gave Rs 83 crore in pounds sterling to
Pakistan to help build replacement canals
from the western rivers. Such generosity is
unusual of an upper riparian.
India conceded its upper riparian posi-
tion on the western rivers for the complete
rights on the eastern rivers. Water was crit-
icalforIndia’sdevelopmentplans.Itwasvi-
tal, therefore, to get the waters of the ‘east-
Reading the Fed’s guidance
To stimulate the US economy, Federal Reserve has indicated that benchmark interest rates would remain
near zero at least until 2023. What is the background of its guidance, and the implications for India?
ANIL SASI
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 18
THEUSFederalReservehasreaffirmedplansto
leaveitsbenchmarkinterestratespinnednear
zerothroughatleast2023andofbeingaccom-
modativeofperiodsofhigherinflation,inwhat
is seen as guidance from the central bank as it
moves from the task of stabilising financial
markets to stimulating economic growth.
In the September policy statement and
economic projections released on
Wednesday,FedchairmanJeromePowelland
his colleagues signalled their intention to be
extraordinarilypatientastheytrytorekindle
the US economy in the months ahead.
TheFed’spolicyrate-settingFederalOpen
Market Committee (FOMC) said in a state-
ment that the panel “expects it will be ap-
propriate to maintain this target range until
labour market conditions have reached lev-
els consistent with the committee’s assess-
ments of maximum employment and infla-
tion has risen to 2 per cent and is on track to
moderatelyexceed2percentforsometime”.
What is the crux of the new guidance?
The new guidance builds on a monetary
policyshiftthatwasfirstsignalledbytheFed
in June, which is aimed at neutralising years
of weak inflationand enablingtheAmerican
economy to counter the pandemic-induced
labour market sluggishness.
The Fed also used the policy statement to
signal a shift from stabilising financial mar-
kets to stimulating the economy, saying it
would keep its current government bond-
buying at least at the current pace of $120
billion per month, in part to ensure “accom-
modative” financial conditions in the future.
The virus “is causing tremendoushuman
and economic hardship”, and the Fed is
“committed to using its full range of tools to
support the US economy in this challenging
time”,theFOMCsaid.Neweconomicprojec-
tions released with the policy statement
showed interest rates on hold through at
least 2023, with inflation never expected to
cross 2 per cent during this period.
“Effectively what we are saying is that
rateswill remainhighly accommodative un-
til the economy is far along in its recovery,”
Reuters quoted Fed Chair Jerome Powell as
saying.“Thatshouldbeaverypowerfulstate-
ment in supporting economic activity” and
returninginflationtotheFed’s2percentgoal
faster, Powell said, adding that he thinks the
forward guidance would be “durable”. The
pace of the recovery is expected to slow, re-
quiring continued support from the Fed and
New search for Kedarnath flood victims: why, how
LALMANIVERMA
DEHRADUN,SEPTEMBER18
OVER SEVEN years since flash floods devas-
tated the Kedarnath Valley, with thousands
killedormissing,theUttarakhandgovernment
has launched a new week-long operation to
recoverskeletalremainsofthosewhoremain
missing. It will be a much more intensive
search than previous operations.
Whatisthenewsearch,andwhynow?
A team of 60 personnel from the State
DisasterResponseForce(SDRF),thepoliceand
healthdepartmenthasbeendispatchedon10
differentroutestosearchforskeletalremains,
collect DNA samples, and move the remains
to Sonprayag for last rites.
Theoperationfollowsadirectivefromthe
AN EXPERT EXPLAINS
ern rivers’ for the proposed Rajasthan canal
and the Bhakra Dam without which both
Punjab and Rajasthan would be left dry, se-
verely hampering India’s food production.
Jawaharlal Nehru, while inaugurating the
Bhakra Canals in 1963, described it as “a gi-
ganticachievementandasymbolof thena-
tion’s energy and enterprise”.
In Pakistan, however, it was an occasion
of strongresentment,grievingthatIndiagot
away with the total flow of 33 million acre-
feet on the eastern rivers “virtually for a
song”.Nehruwasalwaysconsciousthatthe
Bhakra Canals should not be at the cost of
reduced water supplies to Pakistan.
However, he was also very clear that India’s
interestonthe easternriversshouldbepro-
tectedhopingthatthetwocountriesshould
someday come to live “amicably and cor-
diallyastheUnitedStatesandCanadalivein
North America”.
Increasing unease
That, of course, has not happened. On
the contrary, the Pakistan leadership con-
siders the sharing of the waters with India
SIMPLY PUT QUESTION &ANSWER
Fed Chair Jerome Powell has said that interest rates “will remain accommodative
until the economy is far along in its recovery”. Reuters
further government spending, he said.
Following the policy announcement, the
dollar moved up against a basket of major
trading partner currencies.
Does this change the policy stance?
The Fed’s stance and the FOMC action
builds on policy guidance and projections
made three months ago. At their June meet-
ing, all 17 Fed policy-making representatives
projected a near zero federal funds rate — the
key rate the Fed targets while implementing
itsmonetarypolicy—forthisyearandthenext.
“We’re not thinking about raising rates,
we’renoteventhinkingaboutthinkingabout
raising rates,” Powell was quoted as having
told reporters following the June meeting, a
maxim he has since used repeatedly.
TheFed“isbothconfidentandcommitted
and determined” to modestly overshoot the
2 per cent inflation — even though it would
take time, Powell said. Fresh projections say
the US economy could contract 3.7 per cent
thisyear,farlessthanthe6.5percentcontrac-
tion forecast in June; unemployment, which
wasat8.4percentinAugust,isnowseenim-
proving to 7.6 per cent by the end of the year.
All 17 Fed policymakers saw interest rates
staying where they are through 2022, with
fourprojectingtheneedforaratehikein2023.
What does all this mean?
Inresolvingtokeeprateslowuntil,oreven
after, inflation tips over the 2 per cent target,
the Fed has committed itself to higher GDP
and job growth, announced late last month
after a nearly two-year review. The Fed held
ratesnearzeroforsevenyearsduringandaf-
Nainital High Court on a public interest liti-
gation filed by Delhi-based activist Ajay
Gautam seeking directions to the state for
findingmissingpilgrimsortheirbodies.“The
court order came on August 7. The state said
a committee has been constituted under IG
(SDRF),” Gautam said.
Following the cloudburst and deluge of
June 17, 2013, 3,886 persons were listed as
missing,accordingtoareleasefromtheoffice
of the Inspector General, Garhwal Range. In
successive search operations since 2013, 699
bodies have been found. DNA samples of 18
matchedsamplesprovidedbyfamilies,and11
bodies were identified. As per Gautam’s PIL,
3,322peopleremainedmissingasof2019.He
saidskeletonswerefoundineverysearchun-
til 2018, but no search was done in 2019.
Howisthenewsearchdifferentfromthe
an unfinished business. What is disputable
today hasnothing to do withwatersharing,
whichissettledundertheIWT,butwhether
the Indian projects on the western rivers, in
particular Jhelum and Chenab, as Pakistan
claims, conform to the technical stipula-
tions.Beingalowerriparianstate,Pakistan’s
scepticism of India allows it to increasingly
politicise the issue. It is not surprising that
it maintains high troop levels and alertness
aroundthecanalsontheeasternfront,fear-
ing that India will try to take control of the
western rivers.
Clearly, due to its strategic location and
importance, the Indus basin continues to
receive considerable international atten-
tion. In fact, David Lilienthal, who headed
theTennesseeValleyAuthorityandlaterthe
Atomic Energy Commission, after visiting
India and Pakistan in 1951, feared that “an-
other Korea is in the making”, prompting
the World Bank to mediate the water shar-
ing arrangements.
Every now and then, there is a clamour
in India for abrogating the IWT as a re-
sponseto Pakistan’s cross-borderterrorism
@ieExplained
#ExpressExplained
If there are questions of current or contemporary relevance that you would like
explained, please write to explained@indianexpress.com
ter the 2008 financial crisis, before raising
them in December 2015. In the last 10 years,
ittookmorethanthreeyearsforinflation-ad-
justed GDP to rise back to the level that pre-
vailed before the global financial crisis.
How does the Federal Reserve affect
inflation and employment?
Like other central banks such as the
ReserveBankof India,astheUSFedconducts
monetary policy, it influences employment
and inflation primarily by using policy tools
to control the availability and cost of credit
in the economy. The Fed’s primary tool of
monetary policy is the federal funds rate,
changes in which influence other interest
rates — which in turn influence borrowing
costs for households and businesses as well
as broader financial conditions.
For example, when interest rates fall, it is
cheaper to borrow, so households are more
willing to buy goods and services, and busi-
nessescanexpandbypurchasingpropertyand
equipment. They can also hire more workers,
influencingoverallemployment.Thestronger
demand for goods and services may push up
wages and other costs, impacting inflation.
Duringdownturns,theFedmayprunethe
federalfundsratetoitslowerboundnearzero.
If additional support is warranted, it can use
other tools to influence financial conditions.
Even though the linkages of monetary policy
to inflation and employment are not direct or
immediate, monetary policy is a key factor.
What will be the impact on emerging
market economies, including India?
Theoretically, a signal to maintain lower
previousoperations?
Governmentsourcessaidprevioussearch
operations were done by larger teams (10
members each) who spent longer times on
longer routes (10-12 km). These routes were
already frequently used by locals, so chances
of finding any more remains were remote.
This time, the teams are smaller, with 60
personneldistributedalong10routes.Theas-
signment is tougher, as they will search on
higherplacesthatareupto1-2kmawayfrom
the main routes, and in various directions.
Teams will trek to these places and return to
the main route every evening. “It is being as-
sumed that at the time of flooding and heavy
rain,peoplemighthavetakenshelterathigher
places, such as caves,” an official said.
Three of the routes — Gaurikund to
Vasukitaal; Kaalimath to Rambara via
Chaimasi; Gaurikund to Gounmukhda — are
and intransigence. Any attempt towards
this would require a number of politico-
diplomatic and hydrological factors to be
determined as also a political consensus.
That the treaty has remained “uninter-
rupted” is because India respects its signa-
tory and values trans-boundary rivers as an
important connector in the region in terms
of both diplomacy and economic prosper-
ity.Therehavebeenseveralinstancesof ter-
ror attacks — Indian Parliament in 2001,
Mumbai in 2008, and the incidents in Uri in
2016 and Pulwama in 2019 — which could
have prompted India, within the Vienna
Convention on the Law of Treaties, to with-
draw from the IWT. However, on each oc-
casion, India chose not to do so.
Renegotiation
With abrogation an option that India is
hesitant to take, there is a growing debate
to modify the existing IWT. While the
treaty may have served some purpose at
the time it was signed, now with a new set
of hydrological realities, advanced engi-
neering methods in dam construction and
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
rates in the US should be positive for emerg-
ing market economies (EMEs), especially
from a debt market perspective. Emerging
economies such as India tend to have higher
inflationandhigherinterestratesthaninde-
veloped countries. As a result, FIIs would
wanttoborrowintheUSatlowinterestrates
in dollar terms, and invest that money in
bonds of countries such as India in rupee
terms to earn a higher rate of interest.
WhentheFedkeepsitsinterest rateslow,
the difference between the interest rates of
the two countries increases, thus making
countries such as India more attractive for
the currency carry trade.
A lower rate signal by the Fed would also
mean a greater impetus to growth in the US,
which could be positive news for global
growth. But equally, this could translate into
moreequityinvestmentsintheUS,andtem-
per investor enthusiasm for emerging mar-
ket economies.
What has been RBI’s stance on growth
and inflation?
While the RBI’s Monetary Policy
Committee decided to keep the policy rates
unchanged in the meeting held earlier this
month,GovernorShaktikataDashassaidthat
it is important to keep the powder dry and to
use it judiciously. He also said that given the
uncertain inflation outlook, it is important to
seethemomentumininflation,whichisalso
dependentoneffectivesupply-sidemeasures.
The problem for RBI is the effectiveness
of its monetary policy signal. It has cut the
repo rate by 250 basis points from 6.5 per
cent to 4 per cent in the 17-month period
from February 2019 to June 2020, but exist-
ing borrowers have gained very little. Data
show that the weighted average lending
rates on outstanding rupee loans has come
down by only 53 bps, almost a fifth of the cut
in the policy repo rate.
The result is that even though the policy
signal has been in favour of a sharp reduc-
tion in interest rates, practically all existing
borrowers continue to pay a higher rate on
their borrowings, thereby limiting the up-
side of the RBI’s policy guidance.
Meanwhile, retail inflation, while easing
slightly in August as food inflation cooled,
continues to remain above the upper end of
RBI's medium-term target for the fifth
straight month. The concern is this will re-
sult in inflationary expectations inching up,
which couldput further upward pressureon
the actual inflation trajectory. With elevated
inflation in the near term, there is reduced
room for policy easing, at least until the RBI’s
December bi-monthly policy review.
indenseforestandthesearchteamstherehave
been provided porters and guides.
All teams will navigate the routes using
Google Maps. Search teams will also shoot
short video clips.
Whatisthecommitteethatthestate
governmentmentionedincourt?
On August 4, the government constituted
amulti-institutionalSpecialExpertCommittee
to suggest an appropriate technology and
methodologytosearchforthemortalremains
of persons who went missing in the tragedy.
The committee, which is to submit its report
in two months, has representatives from
Geological Survey of India, Archaeological
Survey of India and Wadia Institute of
Himalayan Geology, Dehradun. IG (SDRF)
Sanjay Gunjyal said the committee met re-
cently and technologies were discussed.
de-siltation, there is an urgent need to look
at it afresh.
Article XII of the IWT says that it “may
from time to time be modified” but care-
fully notes “by a duly ratified treaty con-
cluded for that purpose between the two
governments”. Pakistan will see no merit
in any modification having already got a
good deal in 1960. India’s best option,
therefore, would be to optimise the provi-
sions of the treaty.
India has been woefully wanting in not
utilising the 3.6 million acre feet (MAF) of
“permissible storage capacity” granted by
the IWT on the western rivers. Poor water
development projects have allowed 2-3
MAF of water to easily flow into Pakistan
whichneedstobeurgentlyutilised.Further,
out of the total estimated capacity of 11406
MW electricity that can be harnessed from
the three western rivers in Kashmir, only
3034 MW has been tapped so far.
Uttam Kumar Sinha is Fellow at the
Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence
Studies and Analyses, New Delhi
Ahmedabad

14 THE WORLD
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2020
TOPOFTHE
WORLD
Winston Groom
USA
ForrestGump
authorWinston
Groomdiesat77
WINSTON GROOM, the
writer whose novel
Forrest Gump was made
into a six-Oscar winning
1994 movie that became
a soaring pop cultural
phenomenon, has died at
age 77. Mayor Karin
Wilson of Fairhope,
Alabama, said in a mes-
sage on social media that
Groom had died in that
south Alabama town. A
local funeral home also
confirmed the death and
said arrangements were
pending. “While he will
berememberedforcreat-
ing Forrest Gump,
Winston Groom was a
talented journalist &
notedauthorof American
history. Our hearts &
prayers are extended to
his family,” Alabama
Governor Kay Ivey said in
a statement.
HONG KONG
Foreignjudge
quitstopcourt,
citesnewlaw
ONE OF the 14 foreign
judges on Hong Kong’s
highest court said he had
resigned due to concerns
over a sweeping new na-
tional security law im-
posed by Beijing on the
former British colony,
Australia’snationalbroad-
caster reported on Friday.
The office of the city’s
leader Carrie Lam con-
firmed the resignation of
Australian judge James
Spigelman but did not
give a reason. Spigelman,
theformerChief Justiceof
New South Wales, is the
firstseniorjudgetoresign
and publicly criticise the
law, passed by China’s
parliament.
BRITAIN
Weinstein
formallystripped
ofUKhonour
BRITAIN’S QUEEN
Elizabeth has formally
strippedHarveyWeinstein
of his honorary award fol-
lowing his conviction for
sexually assaulting a for-
mer production assistant
andrapinganactress.“The
Queen has directed that
the appointment of
HarveyWeinsteintobean
Honorary Commander of
the Civil Division of the
Most Excellent Order of
the British Empire, dated
29 January 2004, shall be
cancelled and annulled,”
accordingtoanofficialan-
nouncement in the
London Gazette said.
WHEN SOMEONE TESTS POSITIVE FOR THE CORONAVIRUS, PRIVACY IS THE FIRST THING TO GO
On this Greek island, everyone knows your name — if you have Covid
MATINASTEVIS-GRIDNEFF
CHIOS, SEPTEMBER 18
THE MAN taking the last drag of
his cigarette in the sweltering
heat outside his convenience
store in Volissos, a village on the
Greek island of Chios, was clear:
No mask, no shopping.
He stubbed out the cigarette,
slipped the mask from his chin
over his mouth and nose, and
went back in behind the till.
Down at the beach, waiters
whountilthedaybeforehadonly
reluctantly donned face shields
while ferrying meze and cold
beerstothosetanningbythegen-
tlylappingAegeanwaters,needed
Attacks surge in northwest Pak as
Afghan talks bring shifting sands
Worried about losing ground in Afghanistan, Pakistan Taliban seek to re-establish themselves
UMAR FAROOQ
ISLAMABAD, SEPTEMBER 18
MILITANTS HAVE steppedupat-
tacksonsecurityforcesinnorth-
west Pakistan raising fears of a
revival of their insurgency and a
return of lawlessness as brighter
prospects for peace in
Afghanistan herald shifting
Islamist alliances.
The ethnic Pashtun border
region was for years a haven for
militants who fled the US inva-
sion of Afghanistan in 2001. But
thePakistanimilitaryclearedout
the strongholds in a 2014 offen-
sive, driving most of the fighters
into Afghanistan.
But since March, al Qaeda-
linkedPakistaniTaliban,facingthe
riskoflosinghavensontheAfghan
side of the border if their Afghan
Taliban allies make peace there,
have unleashed a wave of attacks
onthePakistanisecurityforces.
Taiwan scrambles
jets as 18 Chinese
planes buzz island
REUTERS
TAIPEI,BEIJING,SEPTEMBER18
TAIWAN SCRAMBLED fighter
jets on Friday as 18 Chinese air-
craft buzzed the island, includ-
ing crossing the sensitive mid-
line of the Taiwan Strait, in an
escalation of tensions as a senior
U.S. official held talks in Taipei.
China hadearlierannounced
thestartof combatdrillsnearthe
Taiwan Strait, denouncing what
it called collusion between the
island, which it claims as part of
its territory, and the US.
US Undersecretary for
EconomicAffairs KeithKrach ar-
rived in Taipei on Thursday for a
three-day visit, the most senior
State Department official to
come to Taiwan in four decades
— which China had said would
prompt a “necessary response”.
Beijing has watched with
growing alarm the ever-closer
relationship between Taipei and
Washington,andhassteppedup
military exercises near the is-
land,includingtwodaysof large-
scale air and sea drills last week.
Taiwan said 18 Chinese air-
Nepal introduces new text
books with revised map
SHIRISH B PRADHAN
KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 18
NEPAL HAS introduced new text
books in the school curriculum
thatincludethecountry’srevised
political map showing three
strategically-importantIndianar-
eas as part of its territory, amid a
border dispute with New Delhi.
India has already termed as
untenable the“artificialenlarge-
ment”of the territorial claims by
Nepal after its Parliament unan-
imously approved the new po-
litical map of the country featur-
ing Lipulekh, Kalapani and
nopromptingtocovertheirfaces.
Somethinghadhappenedon
that one day last month to make
masks suddenly de rigueur:
Someone was sick on the island,
and everyone was aware they
lived in this village.
I knew that escaping
Brussels, my current home, to
visitmyparentsinGreecewould
be different. That was the point.
After a brutal lockdown in
thespringandheightenedsafety
measures in Brussels, my family
cravedachangeof scene,abreak
from isolation — and some help.
Chios has had about 30 con-
firmed cases since the outbreak
began and no deaths. But that
didn’tnecessarilytranslateintoa
Theborderregionwasforyearsahavenformilitantswhofled
theUSinvasionof Afghanistanin2001. Reuters
Bolstering their bid to re-es-
tablish themselves in the border
lands, the Pakistani Taliban, or
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP),
struckanallianceinJulywithhalf
a dozen small militant factions.
“The group’s capability and
military strength has increased,
as has their reach,” said Mansur
Khan Mahsud, executive direc-
Taiwan Foreign Minister
Joseph Wu with US Under
Secretary of State Keith
Krach in Taipei on Friday. AP
craft were involved on Friday, a
far larger number than it has
previously announced for such
encounters.
“Sep. 18, two H-6 bombers,
eightJ-16fighters,fourJ-10fight-
ers and fourJ-11 fighters crossed
the midline of the TaiwanStrait
andentered Taiwan’s southwest
ADIZ,” the defence ministry said
in an English-language tweet.
“ROCAF scrambled fighters,
anddeployedairdefencemissile
systemtomonitortheactivities.”
The ROCAF, Taiwan’s air force,
has scrambled frequently in re-
cent months in response to
Chinese intrusions.
Limpiyadhura areas which India
maintains belongs to it.
ThecurriculumDevelopment
Centre, under the Ministry of
Education,recentlypublishedthe
books with the revised map, in-
formation officer at the centre
Ganesh Bhattarai told PTI.
The new books titled
“Nepal’s territory and reading
materials for border issues” for
the 9th and 12th classes have a
preface written by Education
Minister Giriraj Mani Pokharel.
Nepal released the revised
map in May, more than six
months after India published a
new map in November 2019. PTI
feeling of breathing more easily.
Thefearof infectiononChios,
I came to realise, was focused on
“outsiders”, something I’d never
really considered in Brussels,
where infection was virtually as
anonymous as its residents.
In a community that is more
insulated and largely spared
from infections, contagion can
arrive only externally.
While Chios had been a criti-
cal stop in the migration route
from Turkey to Greece, fewer
refugeeswerearriving,inpartbe-
causeoftoughergovernmentbor-
der policies. So attention turned
tothefewtourists,tomigrantslike
myself who were visiting family
and to localswhowerereturning
tor of the Islamabad-based FATA
Research Centre.
September has seen near
daily incidents, from roadside
bombs to sniper attacks, to am-
bushes and the killing of resi-
dents accused of collaborating
with government forces.
At least 109 people were
killed in 67 attacks between
ISRAEL IMPOSES SECOND LOCKDOWN
Chairs for worshippers at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem, the holiest site where
Jews can pray, sit empty on Friday, the first day of a nationwide three-week lockdown in Israel.
The country’s second lockdown came at the onset of the Jewish high-holiday season, forcing
residents to stay mostly at home amid a resurgence in new coronavirus cases. Reuters
UK’s 90-minute DnaNudge Covid
test accurate, Lancet study finds
REUTERS
LONDON, SEPTEMBER 18
A BRITISH Covid-19 test known
asDnaNudgethatgivesresultsin
just over an hour and which re-
quiresnolaboratorywasaccurate
in almost all cases, an academic
review in the Lancet has found.
Faster testing could allow
morepeopletoreturntoworkor
permit testing on entry to hos-
pital, thus slowing a second
spike in coronavirus infections.
The new test, based on the
design of a DNA test developed
Seoul seeks $4mn from church over outbreak
HYONHEE SHIN
SEOUL, SEPTEMBER 18
THE METROPOLITAN govern-
ment in South Korea’s capital
Seoul said on Friday it would
seek 4.6 billion won ($4 million)
in damages against a church for
causing the spread of the coron-
At a cafe in Chios, Greece. NYT
fromtakingabreakinotherparts
of the country where more peo-
ple were getting sick.
January and July — twice the
numberin2019,accordingtothe
FATA Research Centre.
“TTP’sregroupingisconcern-
ingbothbecauseof itsownactiv-
ities and its links to groups like al
Qaeda,”saidElizabethThrelkeld,
a former State Department offi-
cial who served in Pakistan, now
deputy-director for the South
AsiaprogramattheWashington-
based Stimson Center.
“Itcouldagainprovidesignif-
icant support to international
terrorgroupsif itcontinuestore-
gain ground.”
Militant violence surged in
Pakistan after it was pressed to
sign on to the US-led war on ter-
roraftertheSept11,2001,attacks,
even though it had for years sup-
ported the Afghan Taliban.
Soon the Pakistani govern-
ment found itself under attack
from home-grown Taliban but
the military succeeded in push-
ing them out of the region,
byaprofessoratImperialCollege
London, received approval for
clinicalusebytheMedicinesand
Healthcare Products Regulatory
Agency (MHRA) at the end of
April after successful trials.
In a study in The Lancet
Microbe,thetestwasfoundtohave
an average sensitivity — the abil-
itytocorrectlyidentifythosewith
Covid-19 — of 94.4% and a speci-
ficity—correctlyidentifyingthose
withoutthedisease—of 100%.
“Theseresultssuggestthatthe
CovidNudge test, which can be
performed at a patient’s bedside
without the need to handle any
avirus by disrupting tracing and
testing efforts.
A fresh wave of infections
erupted at a church whose
members attended a large
protest in Seoul in mid-August,
becoming the country’s largest
clusterinthegreatercapitalarea.
The outbreak has driven triple-
digit increases in daily Covid-19
Sowhen,oneAugustday,the
Greek government’s daily offi-
cial tally of positive cases in-
CITES BREACH OF INTERNATIONAL LAW
AMAL CLOONEY QUITS AS UK ENVOY
Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney has quit her role as Britain’s special envoy on me-
dia freedom in protest at the country’s intention to breach international law over Brexit-
related legislation. “It is lamentable for the UK to be speaking of its intention to violate
an international treaty signed by the Prime Minister less than a year ago,” she said.
known as the tribal areas, in
2014, forcing the Pakistani
Taliban into Afghanistan.
Millions of residents were
displaced by the fighting but
since then, militant violence in
Pakistan has largely ceased.
But now fears are growing
that the surge of Pakistani
Taliban violence is an unin-
tendedconsequenceof effortsto
make peace in Afghanistan.
InFebruary,theAfghanTaliban
andtheUnitedStatesstruckadeal
allowingforthewithdrawalofUS
forces in exchange for Afghan
Talibanguaranteestheywouldnot
harbourothermilitants.
The United Nations said in a
report in July there were more
than 6,000 Pakistani fighters in
Afghanistan,mostaffiliatedwith
the TTP, who could be heading
home if they lose their refuge.
“It’s a concern for everyone,”
a Western security official based
in Pakistan said. REUTERS
samplematerial,hascomparable
accuracy to standard laboratory
testing,”ProfessorGrahamCooke,
lead author of the study from the
DepartmentofInfectiousDisease
at Imperial College London, said.
The Lancet paper described
thetest,which requires one nos-
tril swab, as “a sensitive, specific,
and rapid point of care test for
the presence of SARS-CoV-2
without laboratory handling or
sample pre-processing”.
Health Secretary Matt
Hancock told LBC radio that
Britain was rolling out the tests
across hospitals.
cases for more than a month.
The Seoul city government
saiditwouldfilealawsuitagainst
the Sarang Jeil Church and its
leader, Reverend Jun Kwang-
hoon, accusing them of disrupt-
ingcoronavirustestsandprovid-
inginaccuratelistsofitsmembers
which it said aggravated the lat-
est epidemic. REUTERS
cluded three on the island of
Chios, the country’s fifth-largest
and not a major tourist destina-
tion, the chatter among the local
community seemed to over-
power the mesmerising tune of
the cicada song that floods the
air in the long Greek summer.
The question on everyone’s
lips was one you’d never hear in
a big city: Who’s sick?
“This 20-year old guy who
wentonholidaytoZakynthos,”a
Greek island on the other side of
the country popular with British
tourists, the man at the conven-
ience store informed me, confi-
dently.“Nowhe’sinthe hospital,
three of his relatives are in quar-
antine, and many who came in
Trump said “left-wing mobs” had torn down statues,
desecrated memorials, and carried out a “campaign of
violence and anarchy”. Reuters
Trump plans panel for
‘patriotic education’
Slams efforts to highlight slavery, racism
JEFF MASON
WASHINGTON, SEPTEMBER 18
PRESIDENTDONALDTrumpsaid
onThursdayheplannedtoestab-
lishacommissiontopromote“pa-
triotic education” in the United
States,takingissuewitheffortsto
highlighttheUnitedStates’history
of slavery and racism.
In remarks delivered at the
National Archives, which houses
theUSConstitution,Billof Rights,
andDeclarationofIndependence,
Trumprailedagainstpeoplewho
have taken to the streets around
the country this year to protest
racial injustice.
RepublicanTrumphassought
to portray himself as a “law and
order” candidate in the Nov 3
electionagainstDemocraticrival
JoeBiden.Trump said “left-wing
mobs” had torn down statues,
desecrated memorials, and car-
ried out a “campaign of violence
and anarchy.”
“Whetheritisthemobonthe
street,orthecancelcultureinthe
boardroom, the goal is the same:
tosilencedissent,toscareyouout
ofspeakingthetruth,andtobully
Americansintoabandoningtheir
values, their heritage, and their
very way of life,” Trump said.
“Weareheretodaytodeclare
that we will never submit to
tyranny.Wewillreclaimourhis-
tory and our country for citizens
of every race, color, religion, and
creed.”
Trump is trailing Biden in na-
tional opinion polls. Biden has
also condemned looting and vi-
olence that have been part of
some anti-racism protests.
Trump said the commission
would “encourage our educa-
tors to teach our children about
the miracle of American his-
tory.” “America’s founding set in
US court turns down
challenge to Trump’s
temporary ban on H-1B
LALIT K JHA
WASHINGTON, SEPTEMBER 18
AN INDIAN-AMERICAN federal
judgehasturneddownanappeal
by 169 Indian citizens who had
challenged President Donald
Trump’sorderthatbarredforeign
nationalsonH-1Bspecialtyoccu-
pationvisasfromenteringtheUS
till the end of the year.
The H-1B visa is a non-immi-
grant visa that allows US compa-
niestoemployforeignworkersin
specialityoccupationsthatrequire
theoretical or technical expertise.
The technology companies de-
pendonittohiretensofthousands
of employees each year from
countrieslikeIndiaandChina.
contact with him are awaiting
test results,” he volunteered. “So
we have to be extra careful.”
What was more remarkable
than the shopkeeper’s intimate
knowledge of the man’s affairs
wasthatheturnedouttoberight.
Off the record, authorities con-
firmedtheshopkeeper’saccount.
Another rumour spread that
the second case was a young
womanintheisland’smaintown,
whose mother worked at a pop-
ular cosmetics store. That was
problematic,thechatterwent,be-
causeallherfamilymembershad
contactwithdozenseachday:Her
brotherwasabarmanatatrendy
watering hole, and her father
workedforagovernmentagency.
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
RACE FOR
THE WHITE
HOUSE
Move appeals to
base aheadofpolls
AS THE Black Lives Matter
movement grew, Trump in-
creasingly sought to frame
the protests as an affront to
what he refers to as “the
American way of life”. He has
blamed schools and universi-
ties for highlighting the cen-
tral role of slavery and racism
in American history, and has
linked the recent protests to
“left-wing” education. So, his
push for “patriotic educa-
tion” could be a move to ap-
peal to his conservative,
mostly-white base who may
have been concerned by the
massive BLM protests and
the changing political culture
that has seen a large number
of young American progres-
sives rise to prominence.
motion the unstoppable chain
of events that abolished slavery,
secured civil rights, defeated
communism and fascism, and
built the most fair, equal, and
prosperous nation in human
history,” he said. REUTERS
USDistrictJudgeAmitPMehta
ofUSDistrictCourtfortheDistrict
of Columbia in his 11-page order
onWednesdaysaidthatIndiancit-
izens, who are now trapped
abroadduringtripstoIndiawhen
bordersclosed,areunlikelytowin
theircasecontestingthetravelban
proclamationof Trump.
In their lawsuit , 169 Indians
hadsought an order directing the
Secretary of State and the United
States consulates “to process, ad-
judicate,andrenderfinaldecisions
on Plaintiffs’ DS-160 visa applica-
tions.Butrequiringsuchswiftpro-
cessingwouldbeanexerciseinfu-
tility when the complainant
would remain ineligible to enter
the country until January 1, 2021,
attheearliest,”Mehtasaid. PTI
With gossip swirling fast, 24
hours later everyone knew her
name.Theshopwherehermother
worked ended up announcing it
hadcarriedoutathoroughdecon-
tamination and implored people
tostopgossiping.
Even though the gossip and
loss of privacy upset people on
the island, its close social and fa-
milial ties have made one vital
part of curbing infections easier:
contact tracing. While some
countries have set up anony-
mous, remote call centers oper-
ated by hundreds of students
and part-time workers to do the
arduous task of contact tracing,
on Chios, the job is done quickly
by five police officers. NYT
Ahmedabad

15 ECONOMY
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2020
TAXATIONANDOTHERLAWS(RELAXATIONANDAMENDMENTOFCERTAINPROVISIONS)BILL,2020
Govtlookstoextendfacelessassessment
scheme;changesinI-T,GST,FinanceActs
ENSECONOMICBUREAU
NEWDELHI,SEPTEMBER18
REPLACING THE earlier Taxation
and Other Laws (Relaxation of
Certain Provisions) Ordinance,
2020,promulgatedinMarch,the
government introduced the
Taxation and Other Laws
(Relaxation and Amendment of
Certain Provisions) Bill, 2020 in
Lok Sabha on Friday. More
amendments have been now in-
troduced in the Bill including a
proposal to extend faceless as-
sessment scheme for power of
calling of information, revision
and effect of orders, and faceless
inquiry or valuation.
TheBillproposestoamendthe
Income-taxAct,theCentralGoods
and Services Tax (CGST) Act, the
Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Act
and the Finance Act, 2020, en-
abling changes for the PM CARES
Fund, registration of trusts along
withprovisionstoextendvarious
timelimitsforcompliancesfortax-
Trump to block US downloads
of TikTok, WeChat tomorrow
REUTERS
WASHINGTON,SEPTEMBER18
THE TRUMP administration will
ban WeChat and video-sharing
app TikTok from US app stores
startingSundaynight,amovethat
willblockAmericansfromdown-
loading the Chinese-owned plat-
forms over concerns they pose a
nationalsecuritythreat.
Current TikTok users will see
little change on Sunday and US
Commerce Department officials
said they will not bar additional
technical transactions for TikTok
untilNov.12,whichgivesthecom-
pany time to see if owner
ByteDance can clinch an agree-
FDI in defence up to 74%: ‘Inflows subject Human trials of Novavax Covid-19
to time-bound security clearances’
ENSECONOMICBUREAU
NEWDELHI,SEPTEMBER18
THE RECENTLY modified policy
forforeigndirectinvestment(FDI)
inIndia’sdefencesectormaybring
in more investments and fresh
technology.However,theinflows
are subject to time-bound secu-
rity clearances and proper link-
ages with the government’s de-
fence procurement procedures,
according to experts.
According to the latest policy,
approved last week by the
Cabinet, FDI will now be allowed
beyond49percentto74percent
under the automatic route.
Investment through the govern-
BRIEFLY
Apple online store to go
SebionSMART live in India on Sept 23,
empanelment
with ‘full suite of products’
NewDelhi:SebionFridayin-
vitedapplicationsfromindi-
viduals and entities to be
empanelled as Securities
Market Trainers (SMARTs).
Italsoextendedthedeadline
till October 18 to submit
public comments on the
proposed format for busi-
ness responsibility and sus-
tainability reporting.
FMformore
lendingbyADB
NewDelhi:FinanceMinister
Nirmala Sitharaman Friday
urged the Asian Developm-
entBank(ADB)toraisequa-
ntumoflendingandprivate
sectoroperationsatthe53rd
annualmeetingoftheBoard
of Governors of the ADB.
Sharebuyback
byRITES
NewDelhi:Transportinfrast-
ructureconsultancyanden-
gineeringfirmRITESLtdsaid
Friday its board approved
buybackof96.98lakhshares
with repurchase amount
not above Rs 257 crore. PTI
SENSEX: 38,845.82 ▼ 134.03 NIFTY: 11,504.95 ▼ 11.15 NIKKEI: 23,360.30 ▲ 40.93 HANG SENG: 24,455.41 ▲ 114.56 FTSE: 6,030.08 ▼ 19.84 DAX: 13,236.79 ▲ 28.67
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Lok Sabha
during the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament, in
New Delhi on Friday. LSTV/PTI Photo
payers, reduction in interest,
waiverofpenaltyandprosecution
fordelayinpaymentofsometaxes
duringthepost-pandemicperiod.
TheBillprovidesfordeduction
for donations made to the Prime
Minister’s Citizen Assistance and
Relief in Emergency Situations
US President Donald Trump. AP
mentoverthefateofitsUSopera-
tions.”ThebasicTikTokwillstayin-
tact until Nov. 12,” Commerce
Secretary Wilbur Ross told Fox
BusinessNetworkonFriday.
ThebanonnewUSdownloads
of the widely popular app could
still be rescinded by President
Donald Trump before it takes ef-
fect. ByteDance has been in talks
vaccine candidate to begin in Oct
ment route will be allowed be-
yond 74 per cent in cases where
such FDI is “likely” to result in ac-
cess to modern technology or
wheresuchaninvestmentabove
the new automatic route is re-
quired for “other reasons” to be
recorded.
“This will enhance Ease of
DoingBusinessandcontributeto
growth of investment, income
and employment,” Minister of
Commerce and Industry Piyush
Goyal tweeted on Friday, follow-
ing the development.
Foreigninvestmentinthesec-
toris“subjecttosecurityclearance
by the Ministry of Home Affairs”
and shall be as per guidelines of
the Ministry of Defence, accord-
NANDAGOPALRAJAN
NEWDELHI,SEPTEMBER18
ALMOST 33 years after it first
stepped into online retail, Apple
willlaunchitsonlinestoreinIndia
on September 23 with its “full
suite” of products and direct cus-
tomersupport.Itwillalsobringin
unique experiences like product
customisations, packaging and
counselling sessions. Last year,
Apple announced that its first of-
flinestorewillcomeattheBandra
Kurla Complex in Mumbai.
“We are opening the Apple
Store online with a full suite of
Appleproducts.Infact,we’llhave
our brand new products that we
justannouncedearlierthisweek,
available on the store. And one of
the things that we are really ex-
cited about is the personalised
supportthatwearegoingtohave
available,” Deirdre O’Brien,
Apple’s senior vice-president of
Retail + People told
indianexpress.com.
Apple has tied up with Blue
Dartforlogisticsandispromising
free delivery within 24-72 hours
fromdateofpurchasedepending
ontheremotenessofthelocation.
Thedeliverieswillcoverabout
13,000PINcodesacrossthecoun-
Fund (PM CARES FUND) and ex-
emption to its income. The dona-
tion made to the PM CARES Fund
shallbeeligiblefor100percentde-
ductionundersection80GoftheI-
TAct,while,thelimitondeduction
of10percentofgrossincomewill
not be applicable for donation
withOracleCorpandotherstocre-
ateanewcompany,TikTokGlobal,
that aims to address US concerns
about the security of its users’
data.ByteDance still needs Tru-
mp’sapprovaltostaveoffaUSban.
The Commerce Department
order bars Apple Inc’s app store,
Alphabet Inc’s Google Play and
others from offering the apps on
anyplatform“thatcanbereached
from within the United States,” a
seniorCommerceofficialsaid.
The department said the ac-
tions will “protect users in the US
byeliminatingaccesstotheseap-
plicationsandsignificantlyreduc-
ing their functionality.”Oracle
shares fell 1.6 per cent after the
newsinpre-markettrading.
ing to a press note by the
Department for Promotion of
Industry and Internal Trade that
was notified late on Thursday.
“Majordefencefirmsincoun-
trieslikeIsrael,theUS,Franceand
Russiahavebeenwaitingforclar-
ityonthisFDIpolicy,whichwould
now give them wider access to
controlling even the technology
they bring in,” said Atul Pandey, a
partnerinKhaitan&Co.“Theywill
nowbelookingtoinvestinIndia,”
hesaid.WhiletherevisedFDIpol-
icy in the defence sector allows
scrutiny of “any” investments in
thesectorthatmayaffectnational
security, Pandey feels that the
clause may have limited impact
for the time being.
try to start with, but the exact
numbercouldbeimpactedbylo-
cal lockdowns because of the
Covid-19 pandemic.
O’Brien said customers in
Indiaare“goingtofeelreallywell-
served by our ability to deliver
productsinareallyseamlessway
and, especially during Covid, in a
non-contact way.” She reminded
that Apple has been “working in
Indiaforquitesometimewithour
networkof resellerpartners”and
“so we really have a good under-
standingofdoingbusinessinIndia
and really enjoy it.”
Apple’s online retail experi-
ence is as unique as its famed of-
fline stores and involves hand-
holding the customer right from
decidingtheproducttobuytoset-
ting it up and running. In India,
Apple will offer online support in
English and phone support in
HindiandEnglish.Onceaproduct
has been purchased, customers
willalsobeabletobookafree30-
minute counselling session with
local Apple expertsto get alltheir
queries answered.
While the pricing will be the
same as that in the Apple store,
all financing and EMI options
will be available, along with a
trade-in programme within the
online store.
madetotheFund.
Italsoincorporatestherecently
announced Faceless Assessment
Scheme,2019allowingthecentral
governmenttonotifyschemesfor
facelessprocessesandtaxdeduc-
tionorcollectionatsourceforcer-
tain transactions at three-fourth
rate during May 14 to March 31
nextyear.
The Bill also proposes to
amend the direct tax dispute res-
olution scheme, Vivad se Viswas,
extendingthepaymentdatewith-
out additional amount to
December 31. The Finance Act,
2020 is also proposed to be
amendedforacapofsurchargeat
15percentondividendincomeof
foreignportfolioinvestors.
A new Section 168A is pro-
posed to be introduced through
the Bill in the CGST Act for exten-
sion of the time-limit specified or
prescribed in respect of actions
which cannot be completed or
complied with due to force ma-
jeure. The new definition of force
majeure includes war, epidemic,
COVID-19 IMPACT
‘NBFC delinquencies may
rise up to 250 bps in FY21’
Non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) are likely to see
up to 250 basis points (bps) increase in their delinquencies
in the current fiscal, a Crisil Ratings report said
Rising asset quality
challenges: The rapid rise in
Covid-19 afflictions and
intermittent lockdowns will
increase asset quality
challenges of NBFCs, already
grappling with the economic
slowdown since last fiscal
Home loans segment better:
In home loans, the largest
NBFC segment, asset quality is
ENSECONOMICBUREAU
NEWDELHI,SEPTEMBER18
HUMAN TRIALS in India for the
Covid-19vaccinecandidatedevel-
oped by Novavax will begin in
October, said Minister of Health
and Family Welfare Dr Harsh
Vardhan on Friday.
“ICMRandSII(SerumInstitute
of India) have also partnered for
clinical development of a glyco-
protein subunit nanoparticle ad-
juvanted vaccine developed by
Novavax from USA,” the minister
told the Lok Sabha in a reply.
“The trial will be initiated in
(the) second half of October after
Future Enterprises RULES OF ORIGIN
defaults on debt Stricter regime soon to screen FTA benefits
repayment of `90 cr ENSECONOMICBUREAU Stricter rules coming goodsinquestionwithouthaving
PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA
NEWDELHI,SEPTEMBER18
FUTUREENTERPRISESLtd(FEL)on
Fridaysaidthatithasdefaultedon
debt repayment towards com-
mercialpaper.
Thecompanyisunabletoserv-
iceitsobligationsinrespectof the
paymentofcommercialpaperaf-
teritsmaturityandthegrossprin-
cipalamountonwhichthedefault
has occurred on September 14,
2020,isRs90crore,itsaid.
Govt’s liabilities jump New pension fund managers
7.1% in April-June quarter by December: PFRDA chief
ENSECONOMICBUREAU
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 18
THE GOVERNMENT’S total liabil-
itiesrosebyasteep7.1percent,or
Rs 6.73 lakh crore, in the April-
JuneperiodtooverRs101.35lakh
crore, against a 0.8 per cent in-
creaseinthepreviousquarter,afi-
nance ministry report said on
Friday, reflecting the enormous
pressureCovidexertedongovern-
ment finances. As of end-March,
the total liabilities, which also in-
clude the liabilities under the
flood,drought,fire,cyclone,earth-
quake or any other calamity
causedbynature.
Through the Bill, the govern-
ment has proposed to introduce
facelessassessmentofincomees-
caping assessment, faceless recti-
fication, amendments and is-
suance of notice or intimation
besidesfacelesscollectionandre-
coveryoftax,facelessrevisionand
effect of orders, faceless approval
orregistration.
The legislation also proposes
faceless inquiry or valuation and
facelesscollectionofinformation.
The schemes will introduce a
team-basedexerciseofpowersby
thetaxauthorities.
The Bill also proposes to for-
mulate a scheme for ‘faceless ju-
risdiction of income-tax authori-
ties’whichwould“impartgreater
efficiency, transparency and ac-
countability”.Atpresent,theface-
less scheme is already imple-
mented for scrutiny assessment
andwouldbeextendedtoappeal
casesbeginningSeptember25.
expected to be relatively better
than in the other segments
30-50 bps: Expected rise in
delinquencies in home loans
segment for salaried
professionals
~150 bps: Expected rise in
delinquencies for
self-employed/ affordable
housing segments
Thetrialwillbeinitiated
insecondhalf of
October,HealthMinister
DrHarsh Vardhansaid
thevaccineismanufacturedbySII.
The trial is led by ICMR-National
AIDS Research Institute (NARI),
Pune,” he added.
Thegovernmenthasalsocon-
veyed its intent to be part of the
Vaccine Pillar of the Access to
Covid-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator,
whichmaybe“beneficial”inpro-
vidingaccesstotheglobalvaccine
candidatesinadvancedstages,for
the necessary technological ca-
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 18
THE CONCESSIONAL Customs
duties,includingzeroduty,under
free-trade agreements (FTAs)
would be available to importers
only if they can prove that prod-
ucts have undergone value addi-
tion of at least 35 per cent in the
countries of origin, Finance
Ministrysourcessaid.Withmore
stringentrulescomingintoeffect
fromSeptember21,anexporter’s
certificate for ‘country of origin’
alone, which was sufficient ear-
‘PublicAccount’,stoodatRs94.62
lakh crore.
Totideover the deficit caused
byafallinrevenuecollectiondur-
ing the pandemic, the Centre is-
sueddatedsecuritiesaggregating
to Rs 3,46,000 crore in the June
quarter, much higher than the Rs
2,21,000 crore a year before,
showed the Finance Ministry’s
quarterlyreportondebtmanage-
ment.However,theweightedav-
erage yield of primary issuances
showed a fall to 5.85 per cent in
April-June,comparedwith6.7per
cent in the March quarter. FE
GOLD
`52,672
Note: Gold, silver rates at Delhi spot market; gold per 10 g, silver per 1 kg; Brent crude as of 0000 IST
2017 PUBLIC PROCUREMENT (PREFERENCE TO MAKE IN INDIA) ORDER AMENDED
Govt amends public procurement
norms; entities of nations blocking
Indian cos to face reciprocal action
ENSECONOMICBUREAU
NEWDELHI,SEPTEMBER18
COUNTRIES THAT block Indian
companies from participating in
their public procurement
processeswillsoonseeretaliation
in the form of similar treatment
fortheirfirmsingovernmentten-
ders here, according to amend-
ments to the 2017 Public
Procurement(PreferencetoMake
inIndia)Order.Themoveisaimed
at creating reciprocity in trade
with India’s partners — an issue
that Commerce and Industry
Minister Piyush Goyal has raised
on several occasions.
As per the amendments,
nodalministriesanddepartments
have also been given powers to
demand that the products sup-
pliedfortheirtendersbemadeus-
ing a “higher” proportion of local
content. Earlier, the requirement
for Class-I & Class-II local suppli-
erswasfixedat50percentand20
per cent, respectively.
Entitiesofcountrieswhichdo
not allow Indian companies to
Composition of home
loan portfolio of
NBFCs:
■ 2/3rd : Salaried
customers
■ 1/3rd:
Self-employed
customers
Source: Crisil Ratings/PTI
their further utilisation in the
country, the minister said. Under
thispillar,COVAXfacilityhasbeen
created which is led by GAVI and
World Health Organization, for
fair and equitable distribution of
Covid-19vaccineacrosstheworld.
“The Department of
Biotechnology through the Ind-
CEPI Mission is involved in key
partnerships with ‘Coalition for
Epidemic Preparedness
Innovations(CEPI)’forsupporting
Indian researchers for develop-
mentofclinicalimmuneassaysto
advance vaccine research. No ad-
vance purchase agreement with
any vaccine manufacturers have
been entered into,” he said.
into effect from Sept 21
lier, will not be admissible.
A broad range of imports, in-
cludingofmobilephones,set-top
boxes, camera and variouswhite
goods, will come under stricter
scrutiny as the government will
enforcetoughercustomsrulesto
curb abuse of its FTAs with trad-
ing partners by unscrupulous el-
ements. In many cases, the FTA
partner countries have been
claiming to have produced the
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU
MUMBAI, SEPTEMBER 18
THE PENSION Fund Regulatory
and Development Authority
(PFRDA) is working on a new
cost structure for pension fund
managers and intermediaries of
National Pension System (NPS)
and Request for Proposal (RFP)
to appoint new Pension Fund
Managers (PFMs).
Supratim Bandyopadhyay,
Chairman,PFRDA,saiditwasdo-
ing a cost-benefit analysis and
some changes in the cost struc-
RUPEE
`73.45
❸ KEY POINTS
1 Aspertheamendments,
nodalministriesand
departmentshavealso
beengivenpowersto
demandthattheproducts
suppliedfortheirtenders
bemadeusinga “higher”
proportionof localcontent
2 Earlier, the requirement
for Class-I & Class-II lo-
cal suppliers was fixed at
50 per cent and 20 per
cent, respectively
3 Themoveisaimedat
creatingreciprocityin
tradewithIndia’spartners
participate in their government
procurement for any item shall
not be allowed to participate in
governmentprocurementinIndia
“forallitemsrelatedtothatnodal
ministryordepartment,”thegov-
ernment said in a release about
For transparency in mobile
tariff plans, Trai asks telcos to
‘prominently highlight’ terms
ENSECONOMICBUREAU
NEWDELHI,SEPTEMBER18
INANefforttomakemobiletariffs
more transparent and help users
make better decisions, the
Telecom Regulatory Authority of
India(Trai)onFridayaskedallop-
eratorsto“prominentlyhighlight”
the additional terms and condi-
tions of tariff plans for both post-
paid and prepaid on its website
and app, retail outlets as well as
otherpointof sale.
Thetariffplanssuchpublished
must make essential disclosures
such as the volume or units of
voice and data being offered, the
ratesapplicable,thelimitofusage,
andtherateandspeedbeyondthe
applicablelimits.
Telcosmustalsopublishcom-
plete details of upfront cost to be
bornebythecustomerandanex-
haustive list of all inclusions of a
tariff planaswellasall“promised
service parameters such as data
speed” in a clear, unambiguous
andeasytounderstandmanner.
The move by Trai is seen as
tightening the regulations for tel-
coswhichpromisedpriorityserv-
iceforcustomersoncertainplans.
OnJuly11,thesectorregulator
hadaskedbothVodafoneIdea(Vi)
and Bharti Airtel to stop offering
premium and ‘priority on net-
work’ services. Trai had in a letter
asked both telcos to explain their
premiumservicesofferingwithin
a week and directed them to stop
on-boardingnewcustomersuntil
furtherorders.
Vodafone Idea, which offers
pacityfortherequiredvalueaddi-
tion.
Customs officials have long
suspected that China may be di-
verting its supplies to India
through Asean nations, abusing
rulesoforigin,toillegallytakead-
vantage of duty-free market ac-
cess under FTA. Given the latest
border skirmish between India
and China, the diversion may
surge, they fear. The department
has detected fraudulent claims
under FTA to the tune of Rs 1,200
crore. FE
ture for pension fund managers
and other intermediaries. “By
December, we will see the RFPs
out and everybody is welcome.
There will be some entry barri-
ers to bring serious players,” he
said at the CII Insurance and
Pensions Summit.
Currently, there are 8
pension fund managers for the
NPS — SBI Pension, UTI
Retirement Solutions, LIC
Pension, ICICI Prudential, HDFC
Pension, Birla Sun Life Pension
Scheme and Kotak Pension
Fund. NPS has a corpus of close
to Rs 5 lakh crore.
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
OIL SILVER
$42.75 `69,841
International market data till 1900 IST
themove.Theonlyexceptionisfor
entities supplying a list of items
published by the ministry or de-
partment allowing their partici-
pationinsuchcircumstances,ac-
cording to it.
“Specifying foreign certifica-
tions/unreasonable technical
specifications/brands/models in
the bid document is restrictive
and discriminatory practice
against local suppliers. Foreign
certification, if required, shall be
stipulatedonlywiththeapproval
of the Secretary of the Depart-
mentconcerned,”theCommerce
Ministry added in its statement.
All administrative ministries
or departments whose procure-
ment exceeds Rs 1,000 crore per
annumshallnotifytheirprocure-
mentprojectionsforthenextfive
yearsontheirrespectivewebsite,
it stated.
“An upper threshold value of
procurement beyond which for-
eign companies shall enter into a
jointventurewithanIndiancom-
panytoparticipateingovernment
tendersshallbenotified,”thestat-
ment said.
E
E X P L A I NE D
Stricter
● regulations
THEMOVEbyTraiisseen
astighteningtheregula-
tionsfortelcoswhich
promisedpriorityservice
forcustomersoncertain
plans.OnJuly11,thesector
regulatorhadaskedboth
VodafoneIdea(Vi)and
BhartiAirteltostopoffer-
ingpremiumand‘priority
onnetwork’services.Trai
hadinaletteraskedboth
telcostoexplaintheirpre-
miumservicesoffering.
premium services under its
Vodafone Red umbrella, had
launched VodafoneRedX service
back in November 2019. The new
premium service was a limited
time subscription plan which of-
feredhigherdataspeedsatRs999
permonth.
It was later amended in May
this year, and offered up to 50 per
cent higher speeds compared to
other customers on the 4G net-
work.Thepriceofthepackagewas
also upped. The company has,
however, since removed the “pri-
ority 4G network” claim from its
RedXplan.
BhartiAirtel,toohad,onJuly6,
announced its foray into the pre-
miumservicesegmentwithoffers
ofhigherspeedsforpostpaidusers
onRs499orabovemonthlyplans.
US Fed officials
tussle over
practical
meaning of new
inflation policy
REUTERS
WASHINGTON,SEPTEMBER18
FEDERALRESERVEpolicymakers
onFridaybeganfleshingoutwhat
their new tolerance for inflation
willmeaninpractice,anissuecrit-
ical to how investors and house-
holdsreshapetheirownoutlooks
even if it may not be relevant to
any immediate decisions by the
U.S. central bank.
The new policy, laid out in a
strategic document last month
and incorporated into a policy
statementissuedonWednesday,
pledgestokeepinterestratesnear
zerountilinflationhashittheFed’s
2percenttargetandisontrack“to
moderately exceed” it “for some
time.”
Meanwhile,weigheddownby
the Covid-19 pandemic, the U.S.
current account deficit soared to
itshighestlevelinnearly12years.
The Commerce Department
saidonFridaythecurrentaccount
deficit, which measures the flow
of goods, services and invest-
mentsintoandoutofthecountry,
jumped 52.9 per cent to $170.5
billion last quarter.
Ahmedabad

16 SPORT
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2020
BRIEFLY
Duplantisbreaks
Bubka’sworldrecord
Rome: Swedish pole vaulter Armand
Duplantis broke Sergey Bubka’s 26-
year-old out-
door world
record on
Thursday.
Duplantis
cleared 6 me-
ters, 15 cen-
timeters (20
feet, 2 inches)
at the Golden
Gala Pietro
MenneameetinRomewithhissecond
attempt, besting Bubka’s mark of 6.14
meters (20 feet, 1 1/2 inches) set in
Sestriere in July 1994. Nicknamed
“Mondo,” Duplantis already holds the
indoorworldrecordof 6.18meters(20
feet, 3 1/4 inches) set in Glasgow in
February—butBubka’sclassicoutdoor
mark was viewed by many as the ulti-
matetest.“Worldrecord—finally!Itis
so cool,” Duplantis said. “I wanted to
getoverthese6.15sobadly.Everybody
kept talking about it, it was a big chip
onmyshoulder…WhenIdidit,itwas
more relief than joy.” AP
Ex-BarcacoachSetien
suingclubovercontract
Barcelona: Former Barcelona coach
Quique Setien and three of his assis-
tants announced on Thursday they
are suing the club for failing to fulfil
the terms of their contracts after be-
ing sacked last month. In a joint
statement with assistants Eder
Sarabia, Jon Pascua and Fran Soto re-
leased on his official Twitter ac-
count, Setien said he had only re-
ceived written notice of the
termination of his contract on Sept.
16, having been sacked on Aug. 17.
He said he had not received any
compensation from the club a
month after being sacked. The state-
ment added that Setien’s three as-
sistants had not received any com-
pensation either but had instead
been offered a “future relocation” in-
side the club. Barca declined to
comment. REUTERS
Upto1,000spectators
allowedforRomesemis
Rome: Up to 1,000 spectators will be
allowed in to watch the semifinals
and finals of the Italian Open tennis
tournament, the government said
Friday. The tournament, which fea-
tures nine-time champion Rafael
Nadal and top-ranked Novak
Djokovic, has so far been played with-
out fans because of the coronavirus
pandemic. “Starting with the semifi-
nals and finals of the (Italian Open),
up to 1,000 spectators can watch all
sports competitions that are held out-
doors and which scrupulously re-
spect the rules in terms of social dis-
tancing, masks and reserved seating,”
Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora
said. “It’s a first, but significant, step
toward the return of normalcy in
sports.” AP
IPL 2020 SHORT STORIES
With 500 wickets & 6500 runs, Bravo remains T20’s original fantasy player
SRIRAM VEERA
MUMBAI, SEPTEMBER 18
THE FAMOUS commentator Tony Cozier
stopped him at an airport in St. Lucia to let
him know that Mumbai Indians had been
trying to reach him. “Me?” was the young
Dwayne Bravo’s reaction. It was 2008 and
Sachin Tendulkar was interested in drafting
him into the Mumbai Indians team in IPL. It
was the stab of confidence that Bravo
needed then in his career.
The Australian opener Aaron Finch
stopped him at the end of a training session
in the Big Bash tournament in Australia to
tell him Chennai Super Kings have picked
him at the auction. It was 2011 and Bravo
was the lone player from West Indies to be
picked in that auction. Even Chris Gayle had
gone unsold. The day after he landed after a
21-hour flight, he found out that MS Dhoni
wanted him to play the game that night.
"Me?" was Bravo's reaction again. It was the
shot of trust that he needed at that stage of
his career.
Does the dancing, singing, expressive all-
rounder need confidence? He has played for
a mind-boggling 20 T20 franchises around
the world. He has 500 wickets; no one else
has even 400. He has nearly 6500 runs. He
has the panache, the skill, and the tempera-
ment needed for this intense format of the
game. He has the zany persona for his art to
be commercialised. Yet, without IPL, he
might not have really blossomed.
Over the last few years, Bravo has often
asked Lakshmi Narayanan, the performance
Vol. LIII No. 196 RNI No. 15048/1968. Printed and Published by Hareshkumar K Bhagdev on behalf of The Indian Express Private Limited. Published at : 3rd Floor, Sambhav House, Bodakdev, Ahmedabad 380 015.
Phone (Board) : 26872481- 82- 83, Fax No. 26873950. Printed at : Bhaskar Print Planet, Survey No. 148P, Changodar-Bavla Highway, Tal. Sanand, Dist. Ahmedabad. Chairman of the Board : Viveck Goenka, Chief Editor : Raj Kamal Jha, Editor : Unni Rajen Shanker, Editor : (Gujarat) Leena Misra *
(*Responsible for selection of News under the PRB Act) Copyright : The Indian Express Private Limited. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any manner, electronic or otherwise, in whole or in part, without prior written permission is prohibited. The Indian Express®
A silent desert storm
IPL marksIndiancricket’sreturntoSharjah,butbio-bubblesandemptystadiumsareinstarkcontrasttotheglorydaysof 80sand90s
SHAMIK CHAKRABARTY
KOLKATA, SEPTEMBER 18
BIG-TIMECRICKETreturnstoGulfonSaturday
withtheIndianPremierLeague,startingwith
defending champions Mumbai Indians lock-
inghornswithperennialrivalsChennaiSuper
Kings in Abu Dhabi, but the contrast with the
carnival atmosphere on display during the
1980sand90scouldn’tbestarker.Mostof the
bestplayersintheworldwillbepresentinthe
UnitedArabEmiratesthisautumn,butcooped
in eight different bio-bubbles with stringent
restrictions. Apart from playing matches and
training sessions, one would hardly get a
chance to move out. It’s life in a cocoon.
Needlesstosay,therewillbenocrowdsatthe
three venues, at least for the major part of the
tournament.
It’s a far cry from the time when former
PakistancaptainAsif Iqbalandlocalbusiness-
manAbdulRahmanBukhatirjoinedhandsto
bringcrickettothedesert,specificallySharjah.
Overthenexttwodecades,itbecamethe‘neu-
tral’hubofIndia-Pakistanlimited-overscricket,
thriving in a mix of cricket and celebrityhood
as much as the passionate fans.
In 2014, when the first half of the Indian
PremierLeaguewasheldintheUAEbecauseof
the general elections in India, Sharjah was al-
lotted six matches. This time, the IPL’s Covid-
forced switch will see the Emirates’ oldest
cricket venue host 12 of the 56 league stage
matches and share the stage with Dubai and
Abu Dhabi.
“Themainreasonforacarnival-likeatmos-
phere was the India-Pakistan matches in a
packed stadium. The Indian and Pakistani
workers in Sharjah, and also other in the
Emirates, wanted to see their heroes. So, they
came in droves and created a carnival-like at-
mosphere.Andoncetelevisionstartedshow-
ingthematchesliveinthesubcontinent,pop-
ularityroseexponentially,”IqbaltellsTheIndian
Express. But things will not be the same when
thebiggestdomesticT20leaguebeginsitslat-
est edition.
“Matches in front of empty stands might
feelweird.Asaplayer,Icannotfeelorfindmy-
self getting motivated without the atmos-
phere. Don’t forget that players are artistes.
They need appreciation. When there’s no ap-
preciation,it’slikegoingthroughthemotions,”
he opines.
This IPL will mark Indian cricket’s full-
fledged return to Sharjah. In 2018, when the
BCCI hosted the Asia Cup in the UAE, Sharjah
wasn’tavenue.Ithadfallenafoulof theIndian
cricketestablishmentattheturnofthecentury,
inthewakeofthematch-fixingscandalinvolv-
ing then South Africa captain Hansie Cronje.
ThemajorityofIPLmatchesthisyeartoowould
beplayedinDubaiandAbuDhabi–24and20
respectively. Dubai encapsulates Emirates’
commercial vibrancy. But for cricket fans of a
certainvintage,Sharjahevokesnostalgia.
■ ■ ■
FromIndiabundlingoutPakistanfor87af-
ter being all out for 125 in 1985 to Javed
Miandad’slast-ballsixoffChetanSharmanext
yearandSachinTendulkar’s‘desertstorm’in-
nings against Australia in 1998, Sharjah has
givenusmanymomentsof cheeranddespair
withthecrowdinthestandsanintegralpartof
theatmosphere.VVSLaxmanhadtheboxseat
Dwayne Bravo has the zany persona for his art to be commercialised. Yet, without
IPL, he might not have really blossomed. Sportzpics/file
analyst of CSK, one particular question: Why
does Dhoni trust me so much in pressure sit-
uations in the game? Lakky, as Lakshmi is
called in the team, tells him that he is loved
and respected by Dhoni for his attitude and
skills. Tendulkar gave him the confidence
that his skill is respected far away from his
own small island in the Caribbean and
Dhoni bottled the spirit of Bravo and sprayed
it around even when the West Indies board
chose to bury him.
Apart from playing matches and training sessions, one would hardly get a chance to move out of the cocoon. There will be no
crowds at the three venues in Sharjah, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, at least for the major part of the tournament. Twitter/CSK
when Tendulkar decimated the Aussie bowl-
ing 22 years ago.
TheHyderabadartistdidn’tplaytoomany
matches in Sharjah, but fell for the venue.
“Someofthebestone-daymatcheshappened
atthatground.Forme,tobeplayingthereand
be part of that winning team in ’98 (had been
a memorable experience). The stand was
buzzing with Indian fans. It was like a home
game for us,” Laxman recalls for The Indian
Express.
Referring to the upcoming IPL edition, the
Sunrisers Hyderabad mentor believes that
playing before empty stands will not reduce
the intensity of the players. “I don’t have any
doubt that if we were playing that (Desert
Storm)gamebeforeemptystands,Sachinstill
wouldhavegotintothezone.Allgreatplayers
derivethatinternalmotivation.It’snotneces-
sary to be motivated externally.”
Miandad dittos. “If you are a professional
player, it doesn’t matter if you are playing in
frontofapackedhouseorbehindcloseddoors.
A professional player plays for his country or
team,andhisreputation,”theformerPakistan
captain tells this paper.
But he couldn’t resist remembering the
passion displayed during those memorable
India-Pakistan encounters. Miandad recalls
how after his last-ball six, a photographer ran
insidethegroundandembracedhim.“Hisbeat
wastocovertheEmirates’royalty.Butheused
to turn up for every India-Pakistan game. The
emotion overload of the fans made Sharjah
what it was.”
FormerAustraliacaptainandDelhiCapitals
head coach Ricky Ponting has some mixed
memories of Sharjah from his playing days. “I
enjoyedplayingthere(Sharjah).Itseemedlike
every time we played there, Sachin made a
hundred against us (tongue in cheek). So that
probably wasn’t enjoyable.
As a boy, he inhabited the imaginary
world that cricket-mad kids often revel in.
As soon as he finished his homework after
coming from school, he would pick up a
stick. It was his bat in this fictional world. He
then picked two teams, usually England vs
West Indies. In his mind’s eye, Darren Gough
would run in to bowl and he was Desmond
Haynes, batting in his style. An audio com-
mentary ran along. He would play an entire
match. If it's Lara's turn, then Bravo would
“Look, it was great. Wickets were always
really good. Generally, we played some trian-
gular series there, one-day cricket. We played
someTestcricketthereagainstPakistanaswell,
when a few years ago we weren’t touring
Pakistan. I enjoyed the experience of playing
there,butIthinkthisisgoingtobedifferent,as
therewillbenocrowdthere,”PontingtellsThe
Indian Express.
Withoutfansatthevenue,Pontingstresses
on teams creating their own atmosphere. “I
thinkthisIPLisgoingtobemadeofalotofun-
usualscenariosandsituations.Thefactthatwe
arehereunderstrictCovidprotocolsisunusual.
That we have been together for three weeks
alreadybeforethefirstgameisunusualprepa-
ration. And once we get into the games, to be
playing in front of no crowd is going to be ex-
ceptionally different.
“I mean, it’s really going to be interesting
to see how some of the players actually han-
dle that. Who knows (when was) the last
timeMSDhoniandViratKohliplayedinfront
of nobody. That’s probably never happened
in their lives before. For us as a group, we got
to make our own atmosphere on the field.
It’s the same for everybody. It’s going to be
an unusual spectacle.”
■ ■ ■
FormerIndiaskipperDilipVengsarkarwas
part of several of the Sharjah cricketing spec-
tacles in the early years, and understands the
strange situation the behind-closed-doors
matches will bring.
“It’s always very difficult (to play) without
fans at the ground. Spectators are the life and
soul of cricket. A cricket match without spec-
tators is impossible to think of. Atmosphere
makesalotofdifference.Yougetmotivatedby
the people around. I have been watching the
MEN FOR ALL SEASONS
After a dozen uninterrupted
appearances at the IPL, these
regulars boast cent percent
attendance and the eternal
promise of a plucky 13th year of
reinventions. Featuring IPL’s
most prominent mainstays, an
Express countdown to India’s big
sports reopening Saturday night.
bat the way Lara did.
It was one of his early mentors Richard
Smith, who used to play for Trinidad &
Tobago, who seeded the cricket dream. “He
was the one who told me that when you
play these dream games at home, make sure
you put your name in the West Indies team.”
A dream was born. It helped that Lara was
from the same village of Santa Cruz, his
house was just “7 minutes” walk from Lara’s
and Bravo has repeated many times about
how he idolised Lara as a kid and was moti-
vated to be the “next Lara” from his village to
play international cricket.
Pretend-play wasn’t just restricted to
cricket. He also used to “drive” cars. “We
used to call him Mahal (a. madman who
used to pretend he was driving),” his mother
Joycelyn once told Trinidad Guardian. “He
used to bat by himself in the corridor, run-
ning up and down. I used to see this piece of
stick and throw it outside because I really
didn’t know. He would come after and tell
me that was his bat.”
Unfortunately, I won’t be able to play the French Open
this year. My hamstring is still sore so I won’t have time
to prepare for the clay — these two tournaments came
too close to each other for me this time.”
NAOMI OSAKA, US OPEN WINNER JOINS DEFENDING CHAMPION
ASH BARTY IN SKIPPING FRENCH OPEN
English Premier League and without crowds
inside the stadiums, it looks a bit odd to me. I
don’t know how they (players) can give 100
percent(inclosed-doormatches).Thenagain,
youdon’thaveanychoice(inthisIPL).Thisisan
unnatural situation,” Vengsarkar says.
■ ■ ■
TheIPLwillprovidetheEmiratesachance
to regain the status of a bona fide major crick-
eting venue. The country is anyway host to a
numberofotherelitesportingevents,attract-
ing some of the biggest names in the world.
Sharjah,onitsown,wentintotherecordbooks
forhostingthehighestnumberofODIsbefore
thepartycametoagrindinghaltattheturnof
the century.
A couple of VIP boxes in the stadium were
allegedly owned by underworld dons. After
Cronje-gate, Sharjah became the centre of Sir
PaulCondon’sinvestigationintocorruptionin
cricket.
“WestagedmatchesinSharjahfor20years.
Notonesingletournament.Otherthanallega-
tions…nothingwasproven.Noindividualwas
foundguilty–umpires,players,officialsand/or
organisers.Itwasallhearsay.Eventuallywhat
happened,attheendoftheday,notonematch,
person, player, personality, umpire was con-
victed.Sobasedonallegations,whetherit’sthe
hindsight or present, you can’t give a state-
ment.Personally,whatIfelt,peoplebecamea
bitjealous.Sharjahgrewtoobigforcertainpeo-
ple.Anditgrewfromnothing,”Iqbalbelieves.
ButstartingSaturday,theeyesofthecrick-
eting world will turn to the Arabian Desert
again and in the absence of fans in the stands,
the sound of ball meeting bat will echo even
louder.
LIVE MI vs CSK: 7:30pm IST on Star Sports
1 HD/SD, Star Sports 1 Hindi HD/SD
The parents had divorced when he was
very young, he lived with his mother but had
a healthy relationship with the father. To this
day, when Bravo is in town, his father comes
to his house to cook chicken rice for him. It
was the father who took a very young Bravo
to play Sunday cricket with other kids.
“When I went to register Dwayne, the per-
son over the counter said he was too young,
come back when he was six. I went and
joined another line and told the person in
charge that he was six,” the father John said.
The “Mahal” would get well and truly
hooked to the game soon after. “I never
knew he would reach so far,” his mother has
said. His batting can be so easy on the eye –
surely, he has the most gorgeous inside-out
lofted drive to pacers and the pick-up shot
on the leg side is all artistry — that its effec-
tiveness and ballsiness is sometimes missed.
The art
The moment that turned his career came
in 2006, two years before the first IPL, when
his idol Lara threw him the ball to bowl the
last over with the job to prevent Yuvraj Singh
from getting 10 runs. He bled two fours be-
fore slipping in a wicked little dipping slower
one that completely befuddled Yuvraj. He
ran away in delirium, arms spread like wings
– the ball and the celebration has seen en-
cores ever since.
That ball is well worth a deep dive as it
captures everything about his art. It’s one
thing for Lasith Malinga to bowl it; not that
it’s easier but with that side-arm slinging ac-
tion, it’s understandable. For Bravo to under-
cut the ball with his more conventional ac-
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
PREVIEW
MUMBAI VS. CHENNAI
MATCHNO:1,
ABUDHABI,7:30PM.
MI
Can Mumbai Indians defend the
title this year?
They surely can, unless they hit
the self-destruct button.
What can work for them?
Spearheaded by Jasprit Bumrah,
their bowling conglomerate has
depth, menace and variety, covering
every possible base.
Where can they falter?
They have five spinners, but
none of them aside from the 20-
year-old leggie Rahul Chahar and
Krunal Pandya are T20-type spin
bowlers.
Will they think of
Sending Rohit Sharma at No 3 to
accommodate Quinton de Kock and
Chris Lynn at the top of the order.
Remember the name: All-rounder
Sherfane Rutherford could be the
spiritual successor to Kieron Pollard.
Quarantine Quotient: MI squad
has the composure to stay
unflustered and sustain their focus.
AVERAGE AGE: 26
EXPERIENCE: 2894 T20 games
CSK
Can the Chennai Super Kings Dad
Army win IPL 2020?
If their spinners come to the
party, then they could be kings
again.
What can work for them
If the pitches are on the slower
side, imagine the destruction
Ravindra Jadeja, Imran Tahir and
Piyush Chawla can unleash.
Where they can falter
Five of their automatic picks are
over 35. MS Dhoni has not played in
over a year.
Will they think of: Playing Dhoni at
No.3 or pushing Jadeja up the order.
Remember the name: R Sai Kishore,
a left-arm spinner more in the classi-
cal than contemporary mould.
What's their Quarantine
Quotient?
CSK have age, experience and
leadership to stay focused.
AVERAGE AGE: 30
EXPERIENCE: 3286 T20 games.
tion, he has to contort his wrists to get the
fingers to slice the ball and then extend the
arm out to ensure the ball floats really full.
Without either, it’s not as effective. Malinga’s
side-arm release allows him to slice and re-
lease the ball like a frisbee in a naturally
flowing unimpeded action. Neither does he
have Malinga’s pace. Yet, his version is won-
derfully wicked.
Both Malinga and Bravo had no role
models really. As in, T20 bowling was un-
chartered territory. The best pacers of their
era didn’t necessarily have the best T20 style
to emulate. Yorkers and slower ones as de-
liveries existed before, of course but they
had to mould them into T20 shape on their
own. There was no pre-existing model that
they could dip into. They had to decide how
many to bowl, where and when to bowl.
More than most, Bravo has cracked the T20
bowling code.
One of the greatest gripes that Michael
Holding has is the perception that people
carry about the great West Indies bowlers of
his generation. “Even our bowling. It was as
if they thought, all we needed to do was run
up and bowl fast or short. That’s what irks
me the most. I tell them to check the score-
book: how many were lbw, bowled, caught
in slips. It’s as if they don’t want to credit our
thinking.” Even his jazzy run-up was attrib-
uted, by some, almost subconsciously to his
race. It makes Holding bristle.
In a sweet irony, it has been left to a
medium pacer from the Caribbean to make
a younger generation respect and acknowl-
edge the brain and the thought he puts into
his bowling. That will be Bravo’s legacy.
Ahmedabad